Clever Girl
by skimmonsfiction
Summary: Skimmons and the team are hard at work on Isla Nublar, home of the renowned prehistoric park Jurassic World. Jemma Simmons is a brilliant scientist and head of the creation lab while Skye Johnson is the undaunted velociraptor trainer, but with things going so well, history is bound to repeat itself.
1. Welcome to Jurassic World

"Mr. Ward, I've told you once, if not a hundred times just in the past week, Mr. Coulson has said _no_. _I_ have said _no_. I don't care if you single handedly funded the entire program, Mr. Ward, the raptors stay on Isla Sorna!" She looked fed up. She was fed up. Both hands were securely resting at her waist line, her right sitting just above her sheathed bowie knife. Strands of brown hair were sticking to her forehead and neck, both of which saw beads of sweat forming thanks to the hot and humid tropical air. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, but it provided little relief in the midday sun.

"And that's what you told him? For real? Word for word?"

"Word for word, Trip. I swear to god, just because he put the most money into the raptor program he thinks he owns them," Skye groaned, finally relaxing enough to lean over and wipe the dirt and dust from the knees of her jeans before she walked the couple of feet over to sit on the bench next to Trip, who was under the shade of a large palm.

"But it's in the contract, girl. The investors can clamber for their dinos all they want, but all the genetic rights still belong to Jurassic World. We own the dinosaur, they get to present," The taller man pat his coworker on the shoulder while shaking his head, "You know, Samsung presents the Mosasaur! That sort of thing. They get fifteen percent of the profit from the viewings for investing."

"Yeah I know, but somehow Hydra and Co. presents the Velociraptors doesn't sound like a very good idea. There is a reason we keep them on this island and don't transfer them to Isla Nublar. They're too dangerous. They're the most intelligent dinosaurs known to man, and I can barely control them. He wants to send them to an island that sees close to twenty-two thousand visitors every day. You know Natasha has gotten out of containment here before. How many people would he be endangering? All of them, if all five got out. It's a bad idea. If people want to see velociraptors they can take the Isla Sorna fly over tour like everyone else," the trainer threw her head back with a groan, staring up at the bright blue sky, sparsely dotted with clouds, through the leaves of the palm tree.

"People are always going to want what they can't have. You know that. In the fifteen years the park has been opened, how many new species have we had to breed here to keep attendance at the park up? You'd think people would just be excited for dinosaurs, but no," Trip shook his head and took a glance at his best friend. This Mr. Ward had been harassing her about the raptors for well over five years now, and thankfully Mr. Coulson had refused all of his offers. They both knew the man wanted more than to just show off what his money had created. What was the point of Skye having to train them for obedience if he just wanted them in the park? No, he wanted them trained and obedient for something, but it wasn't Jurassic World.

"You know Bobbi was hella excited when Samsung commissioned the mosasaur. Her big baby has been the main attraction for five years now. Considering it was your Rex before that, and the sauropod field before that, it's about time they come up with something else," Trip nudged Skye with a playful smile, and the girl rolled her eyes, "Maybe it _is_ time for your raptors."

"Yeah right. They'll breed something stupid, like a carnotaurus or something. Get a couple of those to replace the T-rex, then we can move her back here. I do miss her. She was such a pain though," Skye chuckled, but was startled silent when the phone in her pocket began to ring and vibrate. She pulled it out swiftly and looked at the time.

"Feeding time?"

"Feeding time," Skye confirmed and shoved the device back into her jeans and pushed herself up off the bench. "You got an egg pick-up scheduled for the weekend?"

"You bet. I've got some stegosaurs and a trike I need to get from the lab. They should be hatching by then. Your new rex ready yet?" Trip asked, standing as well and stretched before he had to return to work as well.

"If they ever call. I don't know what's taking so long. If they want to add another grownup to the paddock I'm going to need to raise the new one here before they take her," Skye shrugged and then waved goodbye. She rolled up the sleeves of her shirt just a little more and situated her leather vest back into position as she walked towards the dusty, gravel parking lot of one of the many staffing centers. The brunette mounted her motorcycle and was soon speeding down the dirt road into the distance, heading for her raptor enclosure.

* * *

"Simmons, we need you over here." Jemma sighed and turned to look over her shoulder at Fitz, who was waving her over. He was standing by the egg nursery, doing something on the control panel.

"If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Jemma tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice, but it wasn't a very easy job, especially not with Ward and Coulson trying to wrangle her into another project.

"I trust you with this assignment, Simmons, you've already done an excellent job with the Indominus Rex and we expect another great product from you." Coulson stopped her just as she was turning around, and it made the scientist want to roll her eyes. Personally, she thought it was too soon to begin designing another dinosaur, especially since the Indominus Rex had yet to become a public attraction and they didn't know how creating a new type of dinosaur would affect park ratings. Ward had insisted that his company wanted to sponsor another attraction, another carnivorous attraction, and Jemma was beginning to wonder if there was a reason he wouldn't just accept sponsoring the Gentle Giants petting zoo or something of that respect. Coulson seemed to agree, pointing out that it had taken the Indominus Rex five years to be fully ready for show, so she should get started on the next attraction right away if it needed time to develop.

"I will begin work as soon as we're not so backed up with current demands to increase the population in other paddocks." Jemma finally gave in, knowing it wasn't going to be her choice anyway. Being the head scientist didn't give her any decision making privileges, she was only there to fulfill the demands of her superiors, and if she didn't agree with them, they wouldn't be too keen on letting her stick around and keep her job.

"Make another creature as terrifying as Indominus, and Hydra Co. will be glad to fund the entire program." Ward said to Jemma's back. She finally rolled her eyes, knowing they wouldn't be able to see. It had taken her a year to perfect the Indominus Rex's genetic code, and she didn't think there was a way to make a scarier dinosaur unless it wasn't a dinosaur at all. She wouldn't be surprised if they asked her to make a dragon next, put wings on a T-rex or even Indominus.

"What is it, Fitz?" Jemma asked, looking down at the tablet on her arm and looking over the data she was receiving from the incubator. After a moment, she didn't need her partner answering her question at all. The readings on several of the eggs were showing advanced processes, meaning they were nearing the time to hatch, but it was the Tyrannosaurus Rex that appeared as if it was ready.

"Should we give the carnivore handler a call?" He asked as Jemma observed. Fitz was more of the technology engineer than a biologist, that's why he and Jemma worked so well together, the two of them were a duo capable of every aspect of their work.

Jemma swiped through a few controls on the tablet and a light flicked on underneath the correct egg. The shadow of the hatchling showed it was much larger than the last time it was checked. It also shifted inside, reacting to the light. It was definitely ready to hatch, and Jemma expected it to within the next hour or so.

"Yes, I'll go make the call. Have one of the other biologists finish the reports on the other eggs." Jemma handed Fitz her tablet to pass on to another scientist and walked over to the phone and the list of contacts. She caught her lower lip between her teeth as she picked up the wired phone and brought it up to her ear. With any other call, she would have had to drag her finger down the posted list and find a name, but Jemma already knew where Skye's name was on the page. Her heart raced as she dialed the number, as it did every time she talked to the woman who trained the raptors. Something about her made her ramble and stutter and blush. It might have been because she was so intimidating, but Jemma had already begun to accept that it was something else. She tended to ignore it, though, as they were technically coworkers and someone like Skye would never be interested in her.

After Jemma dialed, the phone rang only twice before someone on the other end picked up. She was greeted by Skye's voice, and Jemma readjusted the phone in her hand and pulled her collar away from her neck slightly. It was a nervous habit she'd developed recently.

"Hello? This is Jemma Simmons from the Creation Lab, am I speaking to Skye Johnson?" She asked, even though she already knew Skye's voice and knew she was talking to the correct person.

* * *

The carnivore expert had _literally_ just stepped out of the velociraptor enclosure and was heading to the paddock's storage room when she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. Whoever it was was very lucky that they hadn't caught her feeding the raptors since it involved an hour long training process to build up their cooperation before the feeding part even began. Skye had been steadily working on increasing their focus and her beta, Natasha, could easily keep on task for upwards to an hour or more. The others were a little less focused, but both Skye and Natasha helped to keep the other four raptors on task.

"Sure is. You'd better be calling about my T-Rex. I've been waiting for it for over a week now. I was expecting it last Tuesday. They can't take another Rex from Isla Sorna until that baby is at least six months old and who gets crunched down on by corporate when the dinosaur isn't ready for transfer the day it says on the chart? _Me_ , not you lab techies, so you'd better have some good news," Sure it sounded a little harsh, but the sun was hot and training was stressful and with Mr. Ward and May both breathing down her neck for dinosaurs, she was not in a pleasant mood.

Everything had been thrown off schedule, and normally some things around the island were off by a day or two, but never by a week. May ran a tight ship and she expected her island to function just as well as Isla Nublar, minus the theme park, that is. Isla Sorna was site two for the genetics lab. All dinosaurs were raised on this island until deemed fit to be viewed by the public. If a dinosaur at Jurassic World grew ill, it would be transferred to containment on Isla Sorna to be treated and another dinosaur from the second island would take the place of the first at the park. It was a good system, one that worked well when everything was in order.

Jemma scoffed, her embarrassment gone and replaced by annoyance. Leaning against the wall now, Jemma even placed one hand on her hip as if Skye was actually there and would be able to see her body language. Skye was completely out of line in snipping at her, if anyone had the right to complain, it was Jemma. In her opinion, the handlers were the only ones who ever got any credit for dinosaurs, just because they fed them and trained them they thought they were so much more important. Why did she have to call it _her_ T-rex? Jemma was the one who _made_ it, spending an insane amount of time creating its DNA so it wouldn't be genetically identical to the others, managing to find and fill in every gap in the 20,000 genes that made up its genome with the genes of other animals while also managing to keep it similar to the dinosaurs kids read about in books.

"I'll have you know that we 'lab techies', as you so simply put it, face corporate scrutiny as well!" Jemma couldn't help it, something about Skye also made her incredibly defensive when she wasn't a blushing mess. It was either one or the other, there was no in between. "They have their jaws locked onto the back of my neck as well, and it isn't my fault the Tyrannosaurus rex hasn't been born yet. I write their genetic coding and fertilize the eggs, not summon them into existence with magic. Would you have rather had me pump it full of steroids and make it hatch prematurely? I didn't think so." Jemma lectured, ranting and taking out more frustration than she should on the other woman. People in the lab were starting to give her stares, especially Fitz, but Jemma ignored them. She gripped the phone tightly in her hands and didn't wait for a response from the ignorant, irritating carnivore handler. "The T-rex should hatch within the hour, so you better come over here and do your imprinting nonsense correctly and on time so I don't have to start over."

The brunette was already on her way to her motorcycle when she stopped mid stride, just holding her phone to her ear with a rather bemused look on her face. Apparently she had offended the lab worker, which she supposed she really should apologize for. They did, after all, actually _make_ the dinosaurs, as Ms. Simmons had so 'politely' put it, but something about the other woman's irritated tone triggered something in Skye. She couldn't help it. The need to snip back came a bit too naturally, especially after working with raptors. They could be very snippy indeed.

"Alright, Alright. I'll head over there. Don't get your _knickers_ all in a bunch, okay?" Yes, her attempt at the woman's British accent could have been better, but it got the point across. She had to stifle a snicker as it crept its way up her throat before she pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed her thumb to the long red button at the bottom. She shoved the phone back into her pocket and strode the rest of the few feet to her bike, slinging a leg over the side to straddle it before she put the key in the ignition. She revved the engine a couple times, starting it up. The bike was old, very old. It had belonged to her late father and it sounded like it could use another one of its monthly tune ups.

The lab was all the way on the other side of the island, or, well, at least closer to the coast than she was. The raptors were kept towards the back, center of the island, a good central location that kept them well contained if they were to escape from the paddock. It wouldn't take long for Skye to arrive at the main research and creation lab of Isla Sorna, the second, smaller lab being on Isla Nublar and mainly used as an attraction in itself for the park. Hopefully though, it would be long enough for the scientist to calm down. She would do her imprinting right, there was no doubt about that.

* * *

Jemma made a frustrated noise and practically slammed the phone down, but there was also a blush on her cheeks. No matter how rude it was of Skye to make fun of her accent like that, she would always be embarrassed at any mention of her underwear from the other woman. Hopefully everyone else in the lab would just assume her face was red because of frustration, and it fooled everyone. Well, it fooled everyone except for Fitz.

"So what was that all about?" He asked with a smile as he sauntered over to his best friend. Jemma straightened out the collar of her lab coat to try to get back into a professional mindset and rolled her eyes at Fitz. It was clear that he knew about her slight crush on Skye and he was always sticking his nose into her business.

"Nothing." Jemma grumbled, finding her way back to her lab station and continuing some paperwork she'd been trying to finish before Coulson and Ward interrupted her and she had to call Skye. Fitz wasn't buying it though, and he didn't have a task at the moment, so he pulled another rolling chair up next to Jemma and sat down, staring at her expectantly. It only took the one look to crack her, Jemma was far from an introvert and was easily made to spill.

"She's an annoying, ignorant, rude person, and she always makes the lab smell like sweat and outdoors when she comes in here." Jemma was complaining needlessly now, even if the outdoor smell thing wasn't actually Skye's fault. Fitz began to laugh, and Jemma threw a glare at him that shut him up. She didn't know why he always had to think everything that annoyed her was funny. Fitz held up his hands in surrender and pushed himself away on the rolling chair with his feet, a knowing smile on his face. Jemma brushed it off and got back to work, though she still couldn't wait for Skye to get here anyway, no matter how annoying she was.

It was the better part of an hour before Skye came strolling up to the automatic opening doors of the research building, trailing dirt into the building as she moved inside. She didn't need a map to get around like some of the other asset handlers did. The brunette had memorized her way the first few times she had come here to pick up her raptors. To work with such creatures, one needed to be just as smart as they were, and Skye took pride in her intellect, even if it was a different sort from the people who worked in this building.

She took the elevator two floors up, rolling up her sleeves a little more so she could enjoy the cool of the inside air before having to go back out into the heat. She stopped at a set of glass doors and took out a flat plastic card from a pocket in her vest and swiped it down the panel to the left. The control panel turned green and she heard the familiar click of the doors before they slid open and she made her way into the hatchery. She shoved her ID card back into the vest pocket and rubbed her hands together, stepping into the overly warm room where the eggs that were about to hatch were kept.

"Excuse me, science folk. One Skye Johnson here for a Tyranny pick up, please. Long overdue, if you ask me…" The last part was mumbled as she shoved her hands into her pockets and idly kicked her boots against the floor, causing some more dirt to fall loose onto the ground. She didn't think much of it. Dirt was a daily part of life for her, along with a lot of other dirty things. The brunette found it odd how everything in the lab was so… _clean_ all of the time. It would drive her nuts. A little grime did some people good.

Jemma looked up from the work she was doing on her tablet when Skye walked in, dirty as ever, and Jemma made a face that was half displeased and half flustered, scrunching her nose up and glancing once over Skye's person while also feeling heat in the tips of her ears. Skye clearly didn't know she was standing in front of the same person she spoke to on the phone, the handlers often made no effort to get to know anyone in the lab. It would be hypocritical for Jemma to judge her based off of that, Skye was really the only person worth remembering that she'd met besides her friend Bobbi, though she couldn't understand why. Maybe it was just because the girl so easily got a rise out of her. She looked down at the tracks Skye had left coming in and couldn't help but be slightly annoyed, but she was glad at least that it wouldn't be her job to clean up after her.

"Right, um... right over here." Jemma said anxiously, and she hated herself for how stupid she sounded. Skye would definitely know who she was now, there weren't exactly a whole lot of people with an English accent working in the lab. It was harder to maintain her confidence when she was face to face with Skye instead of on the phone, and she clutched the tablet against herself slightly. She couldn't help the way her mouth went dry or the way she stared at Skye's toned, tanned arms for a moment. She forced herself to turn away and lead the handler to the T-rex egg, which had been separated from the others at this point. Skye had gotten there just in time, the egg was beginning to rattle.

A sly smile spread over the raptor trainer's face when the lab techie began to stumble through her words. She was the one who had yelled at her over the phone. Somehow the tiny little woman that she was didn't seem like much of a threat now that they were face to face. Little lab arms and little lab legs. The heaviest thing she probably had to lift was that tablet Skye noticed she was carrying quite closely to herself. Her nature seemed to get the better of her once more.

"Ah, you're…" She drew a blank and frowned. "Damnit, what was it…Mittens…kittens…synonyms… _Simmons!_ " Skye snapped her fingers as she tried to get her brain to remember the woman's name, "Simmons, you're Simmons." She pointed her finger, waggling it a little bit as she was led over to the egg, "You've got quite the temper on you, Simmons. Did you straighten yourself out…down there?" The brunette grinned, circling her finger in the air now as it pointed down and she abruptly laughed at the look on the smaller woman's face. "Not so tough now in person, facing the one who actually deals with the grownup dinos and not baby ones, huh?" Skye winked and turned her attention to the egg.

Simmons had been right. It had been about an hour since she had left the Velociraptor paddock and the egg was already shaking. She was glad she had come when she did. The shell was starting to crack and Skye quickly leaned over the small sandy enclosure it was kept in. "You might want to keep your hands back. Their bite is still wicked, even at this age. Besides, I can't be distracted. I have to do my _imprinting_ correctly now, don't I?" The brunette held her hands at the edge of the sand, watching as the crack became two, and then three, and a piece of egg shell fell into the fine grains of earth. "That's it little lady, keep on working…"

Jemma was sure her face was beet red now, there was no doubt about it. Skye's teasing was having such a tremendous effect on her that she was frozen in place, stuck and not really sure what to do now. At least Skye remembered her name. She shouldn't care though, she shouldn't care whether or not Skye knew who she was. It probably would have been better if she didn't. The handler's second comment about her underwear had Jemma as embarrassed as she thought she could possibly get, though she quickly wished she had knocked on wood after that thought because she tripped over her own feet when backing away from Skye and the small enclosure to make sure the dinosaur didn't accidentally see her first.

Despite her humiliation, Jemma was also still frustrated with the other woman. She just waltzed into the lab acting all calm and collected and started teasing to her and talking to her like a child. It was annoying that Skye was telling her things she already knew, but she would never point them out. She already knew the T-rex had a strong bite as a hatchling, she was the one who reconstructed the genetic code for its jaw when it was missing a component.

Even though Jemma really wanted to run away and get back to her lab work and away from Skye, where she was comfortable, another part of her kept her in the room to watch the imprinting process. She found it fascinating, and more than that, she liked getting a little glimpse at what handlers did. When she had been first hired for the job, Jemma had been thrilled, naturally, but she had also been a little disappointed at the lack of field work. It didn't take long for her to get used to staying in the lab or the employee living area nearby, she still wished she actually got to see some of the dinosaurs up close once they'd left the lab.

"Atta girl, you're doing great," Skye continued to speak to the egg as more and more shell began to break off of the tiny T-Rex that was curled up still in the hardened shell. "What's your number huh? Number seven…look at you, you're really lucky. That's a lucky number you got," The brunette knew it was important to pair her voice with the first moments of the dino's life outside of its shell. Her new experiences today would stay with her throughout her life and it might help both of them out in the long run. Working with the raptors would be a much different story if Skye hadn't imprinted on them this way, been with them since day one. They knew her and they trusted her. The program hadn't worked quite as well with the other carnivores, their intelligence being lower and all, but progress had still been made. The four Tyrannosaurs on Isla Sorna all knew her voice, and one of the two on Isla Nublar did. The first T-Rex, the one that Hammond had originally constructed, did not.

Skye smiled at last as the rest of the shell gave way and the Rex tumbled forward out of her broken egg, standing on wobbly legs and letting out a series of squawks that Skye couldn't help but remind her of birds. They were the closest relatives to dinosaurs after all. She raised one of her hands, catching the baby's attention, and its wide grey eyes transfixed on her. With her other hand, she reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a limp, dead, white rat.

"I've got a treat for you, yes I do. My Lucky girl," Skye took her other hand away as the hand with the dead animal became visible to the baby. It snapped at her, but Skye was quick and pulled her hand back just enough to not get bitten. "Ah ah, bad Lucky, be patient…"

The baby Tyranasaur began to squawk again, sniffing the air and shuffling its feet, when finally it shut its mouth, Skye held the rat by the tail over the baby's mouth. Its large jaws snapped shut over the rodent and began to chew. The brunette leaned back, brushing off her hands against one another and put them on her hips, "Well done. You'll be a spunky one, that's for sure."

Jemma made sure to stay silent while Skye worked. It wasn't difficult, because she was already watching with fascination. No matter how many times she saw baby dinosaurs hatch, it was still incredible with every new life. She swallowed a lump in her throat and her face scrunched up, however, when the handler revealed that she'd been carrying a dead animal with her this whole time. Once Skye appeared to be done with the imprint, Jemma finally spoke up, some of her confidence returned.

"Do you always keep a dead rat on your person?" She asked skeptically, a small laugh betraying her and escaping her throat.

"Only when I know I have to come and feed a cute little baby dinosaur," Skye grinned and watched as the small T-Rex continued to crunch down on the rat until it was all gone. The glass began to raise back up from the bottom of the enclosure, containing the baby dinosaur within as the brunette turned around to look at the scientist.

"Try not to be jealous, I only brought one and cute baby dinosaurs beat out cute awkward scientists," The raptor trainer shrugged, grinning at her teasing, which she found to be quite fun. She was starting to wonder why she didn't request dinosaurs more often, but then she remembered that most of the time she got some other lab techie that was less amusing to mess with than this one.

"Anyway, I'm sure you've got lots of post hatching tests to get to with her," Skye motioned back towards the baby rex with her thumb, who was now curled up sleeping around the remains of her shell. "I assume you'll have her sent to the T-Rex paddock by tomorrow? I normally check on them just before lunch, so if she could be there by then so I can acclimate her to the enclosure, that would be great. Also my pal Triplett is waiting on a Triceratops, I think? Do you think maybe you could get that sped up or…no? Because he said one at the park just died and they need to take another one from here to keep up the numbers, so she will need to be replaced ASAP to keep the system running, you know? Great work you do here doctor. A plus," Skye gave her a thumbs up and gently pat the enclosure glass, "See you tomorrow, Lucky. Doctor _Knickers_ is gonna take great care of you."

The brunette gave a sly grin and winked at the blushing scientist before she shoved her hands back into her pockets and made her way back towards the sliding doors. "Oh and just send the paperwork to my office, I'll sign it when I get the chance. She looks good!" The brunette was already back through the doors and walking down the hall towards the elevator before she could hear a reply, if there was one at all.

Jemma blushed and watched Skye leave without saying another word. Every time Skye opened her mouth she managed to socially cripple Jemma even more. She couldn't tell if the carnivore handler was complimenting her, making fun of her, or a little bit of both. Jemma wasn't even sure if she was flustered or annoyed, both feelings were often brought on at the same time when it came to Skye.

"That is _not_ my name." Jemma told the baby dinosaur, as if it would somehow pass that message along to Skye tomorrow before lunch. She was only slightly disappointed that her encounter with Skye was over, another result of her dramatically mixed feelings for her. It wasn't every day they hatched a carnivore, and it wasn't only Skye that came for them, so it would probably be quite some time before Jemma saw her again. They didn't exactly cross paths often, Jemma was hardly allowed to leave the lab unless she was specifically ordered to, her position as head biochemist had her at the top position in the lab and she was incredibly busy for most of her waking hours.

It was for this reason that she handed over the tablet with the T-rex's information on it to another scientist to do the routine medical examination while she got back to the massive mound of paperwork she'd been lagging behind on. She watched behind her towards where Skye had exited, for some reason hoping she'd forgotten something and would come back, but she quickly shook off the feeling and got back to work.


	2. Untamable Mistake

"You want me to what?" Jemma asked, even though she'd already heard Coulson the first time. She had been happy to go about her business in the lab, leaving her encounter with Skye behind her and getting back to work with Fitz, but it seemed as though it wasn't going to turn out that way.

"I want you to round up Fitz, Triplett, and Johnson and go to the Indominus rex paddock on Isla Nublar. There's been complications and we need Johnson and Triplett to give their opinions on its behavior, Fitz to look at the job the engineers have done on the paddock, and you for your knowledge about what that dinosaur really is." Coulson repeated for the second time. It didn't make it any less surprising to Jemma, she hadn't been expecting this. Usually once a dinosaur left the lab, she never saw it again unless it got sick.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, concern evident in her voice and on her face. Coulson looked collected, though it didn't mean much or comfort her any, he had the best poker face around and somehow remained calm during the most dire of situations.

"Nothing is wrong yet, just unusual. We should get final feedback before we open the new attraction." Jemma could tell by his careful use of terms that something actually was wrong. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Coulson just picked up a tablet from the desk, shoved it into her hands, and shooed her, spurring her into action. Jemma went to Fitz first, having to repeat what Coulson had told her multiple times to get him moving, just as Coulson had done for her.

"Come on, we have to go get Skye." Jemma grabbed his sleeve and tugged him along, but he stopped her. He shouldn't be smiling at a time like this, he was up to something.

"I'll find Trip and meet you there, you go ahead and find her." Jemma's eyebrows furrowed at his suggestion and she tried to stop him from leaving, but nothing was working.

"Fitz, please, just come with me!" Jemma groaned, but he was already heading towards the exit of the lab. Following him, she only remembered to take off her lab coat and hang it up just in time, almost accidentally wearing it out the door.

"What, are you too afraid to go talk to the carnivore lady on your own?" Fitz grinned, fully intending to tease her. The sad part about it was that it was true, Jemma was too nervous to go talk to her again, especially when she was out of her territory and out at Skye's home in the wilderness instead of her safe place in the lab where she felt comfortable. It was obvious at that point that Jemma would be going alone, Fitz would not be giving in any time soon, despite her pleading and bribing.

"Have fun!" Fitz called back as he stepped outside and walked towards his car. Jemma felt the heat and humidity flood in through the automatic doors in a wave, and it made her groan to think about going out in it. The scientists' housing was actually only a floor above all the labs. Jemma hadn't had to go outside in days, and the temperature had gotten even hotter since the last time she'd ventured out, despite how close it was getting to winter and Christmas at her home in England. There were no holiday breaks for Jurassic World workers, though, especially not one of her high rank.

It took most of her willpower just to make it to her car without unbuttoning her polo shirt. She did push her glasses up into her hair to rest on the top of her head, she only needed them to read for long periods of time and they were only a nuisance when her face began to sweat and they slipped down her nose. Immediately upon taking her seat, Jemma blasted the air conditioning and turned the keys in the ignition, already not looking forward to and looking forward to her visit with Skye all at once again. It was very confusing.

It only took a few minutes to drive through the rough terrain to Skye's bungalow, and when she got there, Skye was outside, up to her elbows in grease and repairing her motorcycle. She had earned a side glance by pulling up in her sleeker looking car, but she didn't gain the handler's full attention until she stepped out and was recognized.

"Are you... are you busy right now?" Jemma asked nervously, wringing her hands out in front of her. She really wished she hadn't left her tablet in the car just so she had something to occupy herself with.

Skye eyed the car out of the corner of her eye as she continued to work and didn't fully pay attention until the same scientist from before stepped out. Honestly, she was surprised to see her again so soon…and outside the lab…without a lab coat. She looked very different, but no less timid. She reminded Skye of an archaeornithomimus, a thin, lanky dinosaur that was finicky and did better in large groups than alone. She had some bite, that much was evident from their conversation over the phone, but she was no T-Rex.

"My hands and eyes are busy, but my mouth and ears are not. Did I forget something earlier?" The brunette asked, finally taking her eyes off the timid scientist and putting them back to work on the old bike, taking the wrench and turning a bolt a few times before it came loose and she gently tugged the oil filter out and set it on the ground. It needed to be changed and she wasn't sure if she had a spare in the small shop behind her trailer or not. Getting it from Amazon was going to take forever.

"I'm going to need a little more than your mouth and ears." Jemma laughed nervously, though she shut up when Skye gave little reaction, simply continuing to work on her bike. "Coulson, I mean. Coulson's going to need all of you, with me, Trip, and Fitz, at Isla Nublar. Something's wrong with the Indominus Rex." She came straight out with it, and didn't lie like she was positive Coulson had. This got Skye's attention. The handler had worked with the dinosaur in question when it was younger, but no one had really worked with it in a very long time. "Do you want a ride...?" Jemma motioned behind her to her car with her thumb, and was about to ask if Skye would rather ride her bike to the ferry, but it didn't look operational at the moment and instead just chose to let her question trail off.

The girl had her attention now and the brunette must have looked very confused because her brow was furrowed and she had stopped her tinkering and was wiping her hands off with a rag from her back pocket. "Uh, yeah, yeah a ride would be great, thanks." She stood up and tossed the rag onto the ground, taking one last look at her bike. Fixing it would have to wait. She hadn't dealt with the Indominus for at least…what, three years? They had taken them from Isla Sorna early, against Skye's advisement, but apparently their enclosure needed to be built special.

"Let me just clean up a bit. Dinos aren't really fond of the mechanic smell," Skye raised her eyebrows to emphasize her point as she motioned back towards the trailer. She opened up the door and stepped inside, coming back out a few minutes later with clean arms and a different shirt, a blue button up with the sleeves rolled up. She grabbed her vest from the lawn chair sitting under her awning and threw it on.

"Alright, ready when you are Mittens…er, Simmons," The raptor trainer corrected quickly, giving a half grin at her mistake before she got into the scientist's car. It was nice. A lot nicer than anything she had ever ridden in other than the monorail at the park. It suited her. As the head scientist of the entire program Jemma probably made a heck of a lot more money than Skye did, but Skye was okay with that. She didn't mind her trailer or her broken bike. She liked what working with the animals one on one brought and she doubted Simmons got to see a lot of that.

"So uh, what's up with the I-Rex? Are they sick? Are they having behavioral issues? What's going on? I'm not really called for Isla Nublar projects, that's sort of Morse's job, you know? She's head of the carnivores for the park, not me."

"I, uh- I don't know." Jemma was also disappointed by her own lack of information and that she didn't have the answers to any of Skye's questions as she slid into her seat and closed the door, deciding to ignore Skye's weird names for her altogether. She paused for a moment, realizing she was even closer to Skye than she ever had been before, she was hardly two feet away, and somehow Jemma could feel her presence even more strongly.

Driving into the small area in the packed trees was definitely easier than backing out, and it took Jemma a few moments to get back on the dirt road.

"I assume it's something about the paddock itself and not the dinosaur, because why else would Fitz be there, but then again, I don't see why we would need you if that was the case. All I know is that we're there for feedback and that he needs Fitz for engineering, you and Bobbi's combined input on behavior, and me for, uh..." Jemma paused, hesitant to reveal why she was actually needed. Skye didn't know just how important Jemma was, she probably just seemed like a regular lab monkey to the handler, and Jemma wasn't really sure if she was actually allowed to tell the woman. She hadn't been specifically told not to share this information, and even if she wasn't, she still felt like she trusted Skye for some reason. "Because I... I created her and I'm the only one that knows what she's made of."

Skye's disappointed sigh was very audible as she sank back into the seat and crossed her arms, staring out the window as they drove down the dirt road. How was she supposed to prepare if she didn't have any details beforehand? She wished corporate would make her job a little easier and not more difficult. Working with creatures who had been extinct for millions of years previous was already a hard enough job.

The scientist's last comment caught her a little off guard though, and the brunette turned her head back around to look at the girl while she drove. Her brows were furrowed again, in question, as they had been before. "Wait, what? What do you mean you know what she's made of? I mean I know she's a new dinosaur, but doesn't she have the same fill in sequence as most of the other big carnivores? I don't see why knowing if she's got toad in her or not would matter. Her behavior shouldn't vary much more than a Tyranosaurus or a Carnotaurus, I mean they're both large carnivore's right? Their DNA sequences shouldn't be that much different. I'm sorry, I know I'm not the expert here but it just sort of seems like something Morse would be able to handle on her own."

"She's definitely not that." Jemma couldn't help but scoff. She knew there was no way for Skye to know any better, but comparing the Indominus rex to the Tyrannosaurus rex was like comparing a jaguar to a tabby cat. Her jaw quickly hardened and she shut her mouth before Skye got anything else out of her. If it was her choice, she wouldn't hesitate to tell Skye everything she needed to know about the Indominus for her to make an educated decision and have all the facts straight before she gave her opinion, but it wasn't her choice. She'd signed a contract of silence when she was assigned the project and giving away details could very well cause her to lose her job and possibly even get arrested. "I mean, that's classified." Skye would be able to hear Jemma grit her teeth together and she was glad she was getting closer to the ferry. There had to be at least something Jemma could tell her, though. She didn't have much she was allowed to give away, but Skye deserved to know everything she was allowed to.

"That dinosaur is not something anyone would be able to handle on their own. If there really is a problem with the paddock, I don't want to know what is going to happen." Jemma was cautious with her words, letting Skye know just how dangerous the dinosaur was, but not giving away anything about it. She really did hope this was just a new routine inspection type thing and not a real problem.

"Alright…" Skye turned her nose up a little at being shut down so quickly. Knowing all the facts with these animals was pretty much life and death, especially for people like herself and Trip and Morse who worked with the animals so closely. How was she going to be any help if she didn't have the full picture?

"Well, did someone at least imprint on them, because it sure as hell wasn't me. We should have them at the paddock too. A familiar face or sound might help if they are in some kind of distress. The lab just came and dropped the two hatchlings off and then left, giving me very little information about them to begin with. I only had them for two years and that was sparingly. Corporate kept regulations super tight on them…and it's been three years. I doubt I'll be any help." Skye was relieved though, to see the dock out of her window now. They were only a few minutes from the ferry. The suspense of such a sudden trip was starting to eat away at her. It didn't normally take the entire professional team to determine what was wrong with an asset, even one as new as the I-Rex.

"Again, I don't know. I wish I could be of more help to you, but I just can't." Jemma said. Now that they were talking business, she wasn't as nervous. Well, she was nervous, but not for the same reasons. It was more about a dinosaur and the safety of twenty thousand people on the island rather than her social issues and talking to pretty girls.

Jemma wasn't completely unknowledgeable, though, and she offered up what little information she had.

"I was the only one there when they hatched, but I didn't do what you did." She informed her, flinching at the partially horrified, partially angry look on the other woman's face. "I don't know what happened to them after they were moved from the lab, reports I received were very vague and only told me how much of a great job I'd done at creating a dinosaur that would give parents nightmares." They'd reached the parking lot for the ferry, and Jemma stopped the car, putting on the parking brake and removing the key from the ignition, but waiting to see what Skye had to say before getting out.

"So you _were_ there!" Skye had caught her, and her finger pointed accusingly at Jemma, "You watched them hatch, and you're telling me that no one spoke to them? No one fed them? No one made a _connection_?" She looked bewildered, mildly pissed even. She was in disbelief. From what she had heard, this was a very aggressive species, or so they had assumed and from the doctor's comment about it giving the parents nightmares, she assumed they were right.

"Not even you? I mean you know how important that step is! You watch us handlers do it every single time. Even the herbivores have it done. If I hadn't made that first bond with the raptors then no one would be able to go into the cage for maintenance. They would have to be sedated, heavily, and that causes a lot of stress on the animal, and a stressed animal is not a cooperative animal, Simmons. You're basically telling me that nothing can get near them," Her rant was growing louder and she hadn't even unbuckled yet. She was amazed at the lack of foresight such a smart woman had about the process _after_ the lab.

"You're telling me, that if you want me and Morse to analyze and interact with these creatures, we can't, because no human relationship was established. We can't do our job. You're telling me that this Dr. Fitz can't go inside and inspect the enclosure without us pumping a gallon of anesthetic in their veins. If they already have no bond with people then shooting them with darts sure isn't going to help their stress levels. For someone who is really smart, you kind of sound _really stupid."_

"I...I..." Jemma really had no words. Each accusation from Skye had the scientist slowly shrinking in her seat until she felt and probably looked like a kicked puppy. Any progress Jemma had made with her was definitely ruined now, Skye seemed to think this whole thing was her fault. Eventually, after taking the hits for long enough, Jemma's defensive switch finally flipped on.

"I didn't know!" She finally shouted, sitting up straight and staring straight into Skye's eyes. "What I meant when I said I was there was that I rushed in just as the eggs hatched because everyone else was busy, and I panicked because I had no orders whatsoever on who to call! I knew they were supposed to imprint, but they tried to bite me and I didn't know how to handle them! Me trying to create a bond with a dinosaur is like you trying to write a DNA sequence, I was completely out of my element. Don't try to put this on me." Jemma growled after finally snapping. She didn't like getting yelled at, especially not by someone like Skye who thought she knew better than everyone else and was quick to blame the first person available. She had unbuckled during her rant and stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She had half a mind to lock the maddening woman inside, crack a window for her, and go to Isla Nublar herself, but Coulson's orders to bring her along still rang in her head.

Skye was irritated. She would also be lying to herself if she didn't admit that she was also mildly impressed. The archaeornithomimus had some bite after all. Enough so that it got the carnivore handler to shut up and unbuckle. She got out of the car and shut the door in silence. She walked to the ferry and she was resigned to ride there the entire way in complete silence.

Simmons had had a point. It was rather unfair of Skye to assume that she could just do what she did and imprint on a dinosaur without any training or knowledge. The entire endeavor apparently had also been a surprise. She couldn't blame her, at least not for that. Skye certainly wouldn't be able to do her job, so why should the brunette think that the doctor could do hers? Her thoughts kept wandering about until she heard a familiar voice laughing over the sound of the ferry's horn, signaling it was leaving the dock.

Trip couldn't believe it, even as he snickered and leaned down towards Fitz, nudging him gently and nodding in the direction of the two girls, "I can't believe she was yelling. Did you see her get out of the car? Skye must have pissed her off. My girl is losing brownie points, man, but I still bet twenty bucks they kiss by the end of the week." The taller man held out his hand towards the engineer, winking with a confident grin, waiting for Fitz to shake his hand and the agreement made. They had been making a lot of these arrangements as of late, but none had yet been fulfilled. The subjects of their said arrangements had yet to play into their hands.

"Ha. You're on." Fitz grabbed Trip's hand and shook it quickly, a grin on his face. They were both big supporters of and had been making predictions about the still practically nonexistent relationship between Skye and Jemma, but moving into betting territory was something else entirely. He could stand to make a buck or two, and he knew Jemma well enough to win.

"You're going to lose twenty dollars, though. Simmons is far too shy for anything to happen in a week, and if Skye made her angry, it'll definitely take longer than that." Fitz scoffed, knowing already that he'd be buying a drink with the money he was going to earn from betting on his friend. Just to be safe, Fitz was going to stop encouraging Simmons to spend time with Skye until next week. A bet's a bet, and he would win it for pride as well as money. He dropped Trip's hand and wiped the grin off his face when he realized Jemma had spotted them, and the scientist marched over angrily, glad to leave Skye's side and stand next to Fitz instead.

"I can't believe her..." She grumbled to Fitz, but stopped herself when she realized Trip was here too. Anything she said in front of him would eventually get back to Skye, so if she was going to talk about the handler behind her back, in front of the woman's best friend was not the place to do it. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, leaning against the rail as the ferry left the dock, occasionally throwing a short glare in Skye's direction, but spending most of the ride staring out at the water.

It took close to an hour and a half to travel the 87 mile distance by the ferry to Isla Nublar and Skye was fairly certain it was the quietest hour and a half she had ever spent. The scientist had kept shooting annoyed glances at her the entire ride and the brunette tried hard to ignore them. She was very grateful when they finally arrived at the dock and she was able to get off of the boat, followed closely by Trip. He was on a mission now and he needed to see what that fight had been about…and he had a bet to win.

"Hey girl, what's up with you and little scientist? She was snapping at you like a raptor on a bad day when you guys got out of the car," The taller man whispered, careful to look around and see if Fitz or even Simmons were listening. He already knew that the doctor had a crush on his raptor trainer best friend, thanks to Fitz, and he just needed to get his girl up and on the move.

"Pfft, a raptor? Hardly," Skye rolled her eyes and looked behind her, seeing that the scientist and her friend were far enough away for her to unload on her best friend. "More like a Compsognathus. I mean she's so tiny and timid her bark is probably worse than her bite. She informed me that no one imprinted on either Indominus and although she did the DNA sequence for them, she either doesn't know anything useful about it she can tell me or she's not _allowed_ to tell me. Like really? How am I supposed to do my job if I don't have all the information?"

"That does sound like it could be an issue," Trip said thoughtfully as the group made their way to a series of Jurassic World vehicles waiting for them. Neither he nor Skye spotted Mr. Coulson or Bobbi and both figured they were probably already at the paddock waiting for them. It had been a long time since Skye had seen the two dinosaurs and she was both thrilled and a little bit nervous to see what they had grown into.

Trip and Skye weren't the only ones who shot into their own conversations as soon as they were separated, Fitz and Jemma began one of a similar topic. Jemma still had her arms crossed over her chest in frustration and was watching Skye walk from behind, but Fitz was walking casually next to her, like nothing was wrong and having to go to another island to see a nightmare of a dinosaur was no big deal at all.

"What did your handler friend over there do to get you so angry?" Fitz asked, definitely prying. Like Trip, he wanted to be the one to win the bet and was willing to manipulate his side of the pairing for his own purposes. He immediately got his desired response out of Jemma, who didn't take long to get worked up when she was already so clearly frustrated.

"She is _not_ my friend." Jemma practically snarled. "She thinks she's so perfect." She grumbled quietly, under her breath, before she continued. "She tried to blame me for whatever is going on with the Indominus rex. Can you believe that? She's ridiculous." Jemma shook her head in exasperation, not taking her eyes away from the brunette's back in front of her as they got off the ferry and headed towards the Jurassic World jeep waiting for them.

"You're right, I mean, I just don't know how you deal with her." Fitz shrugged in agreement, willing to let Jemma keep on hating Skye for a little longer so he would win the bet. Jemma gave him a strange look, knowing how fake and overly cheerful he was sounding, but they didn't have time to discuss it because they caught up with Skye and Trip at their vehicle.

"I'll drive. Coordinates to the paddock are already locked in," Trip smiled and reached for the drivers side door and opened it up. He caught Skye going around to reach for the front passenger side, but he acted quickly. "Hey Fitz, how about you sit up front with me? I got some questions to ask you about my triceratops. She's still not done," The taller man put on a big grin and motioned for his buddy to go and get into the front seat. He glanced over Skye's face, who was shocked to say the least. She always got the front when they rode together. Granted they never rode together with both Fitz and her at the same time, and she knew they were close friends, but still.

She gave him a pointed stare, one that said 'You're making me sit in the back with _Doctor Feisty Pants_?' but Trip ignored her and got in, and cranked the jeep up. "You guys better hurry, don't want to keep Corporate waiting," He advised, winking at Fitz. Skye's groan was very audible as she moved one door back and opened up the back of the jeep and hopped in. She buckled and crossed her arms, choosing to look out the window instead of over at the scientist next to her, who also didn't look very happy about the situation.

"Traitor…" the raptor trainer mumbled under her breath, but with the AC blasting and the GPS coming to life to give directions, she doubted Trip heard her at all.

Jemma was also surprised when Trip invited Fitz to sit in the front with him, and it took zero seconds flat for her to realize that she would be sitting in the back. This wouldn't normally be an issue, when anyone else was riding with them, Jemma and Fitz usually sat in the back, handlers liked to show their dominance or whatever by driving, so scientists often simply sat in the back seats looking at their tablets. Jemma still did this, but she angled herself away from Skye and towards the door once she sat down and didn't remove her eyes from the data on the screen once during the ride. Trip's excuse for having Fitz sit in front was lame, they didn't even talk during the silent drive to the paddock, but Fitz kept watching them in the rear view mirror as if he was waiting for some reaction.

The blasting of the air conditioning eventually felt like a drone and it got too quiet, so Jemma finally decided to do something. She had a little more data on her tablet that she could share with Skye that she hadn't been able to before because she was driving. She pulled up a profile on the species of the indominus rex, giving the predicted height, weight, and other attributes compared to its data now. She pulled up another page with details on the paddock so that Skye could at least be slightly informed when they got there.

Jemma didn't say a word, but she thrust her arm out in Skye's direction with the tablet in her hand and fully expected her to take it and read it.

Skye was too curious to resist, and so she pried herself away from the window and shifted in the back seat, turning just enough so that she could look at Simmons, then at the tablet thrusted out towards her. She kept quiet though, as she took the tablet and pulled it to her side of the vehicle. The tablet now comfortably in her own lap, the brunette stared down at the data, her mouth slowly falling more and more open the more that she read.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry, she is forty-two feet tall?!"

"Holy shit, what?!" Trip shouted from the front and took his eyes from the road to turn and look back at the two girls in the back for a second before facing forward again. "Man, that's almost twice the height of a T-Rex. What the hell kind of dinosaur is this girl?!"

"Fifty-six feet long, weighs eight and a half tons…you're joking?" Skye tore her eyes from the tablet to stare pointedly at the scientist next to her, "What do we possibly need with such a huge predator? No other carnivore on the island is this big! The paddock is only forty-seven feet tall, are you kidding?!" Skye quickly handed the tablet back before she could throw it out the window. She knew that they kept raptors off of the park island because they were dangerous and highly intelligent. They should have kept indominus off the island too just because of her sheer size alone. A T-Rex was one thing but these two were gargantuan.

"That's the indominus. It was designed to be larger than a T-rex." Jemma informed her, taking her tablet back and putting it in sleep mode as the jeep pulled up outside the paddock. Now, as Jemma looked up at the walls and imagined a dinosaur only a few feet shorter than them, she wondered if it was really safe to contain it there. "That could be what they want us here for, to get all of our opinions about whether or not it can escape, and what to do to fortify the enclosure." Jemma was beginning to talk again, but only because it had to do with their current work.

Stepping out of the jeep and down onto the ground made the walls of the paddock seem even more daunting. Jemma hadn't actually been to a containment facility in a very long time, and she'd forgotten how they sent chills down her spine, especially now that the actual ability of the facility to contain its resident was in question. Gravel crunched beneath her feet as she and the others made their way over to the steps leading up to the viewing room. Just like Skye, Jemma was a little excited and scared at the same time to see what her creation had grown into.

"Designed? What do you mean it was designed? It either was or wasn't larger…right?" Skye was confused. She knew the creation lab didn't really 'create' dinosaurs. They just simply took DNA that they already had and fixed it up and a real live dinosaur would come out the other end of a test tube at some point. She couldn't imagine there was much 'designing' involved in the overall process. She got out of the jeep quickly, following after the smaller woman and was about to speak up again, but before she could a tall blonde opened up the door for them to the viewing room.

"Took you guys long enough. We've been waiting here for you forever," Bobbi smiled and moved out of the way as the small group of people entered. "Nice to see you again Trip, Simmons, Skye." She nodded to them and while Skye gave a nod of acknowledgement, Trip clasped his hands around Bobbi's hand and grinned wide.

"It's good to see you too!" The two were apparently friends and so he turned to introduce the second scientist, "This is Fitz," He motioned towards the engineer.

The brunette only seemed to be mildly irritated that Simmons had not gotten to answer her questions. She wanted to know what they were here for. The woman scanned the room and finally laid eyes on Mr. Coulson on the other side, standing up against the large panels of glass, watching out into the well foliaged paddock. "Ah, Mr. Coulson, care to tell us what's going on? I've got a few issues with this already and I'd like to air my complaints to someone who actually knows something."

Upon hearing his name, Coulson turned away from the glass and his troubling thoughts. There actually was a relatively serious issue here, if there wasn't, he wouldn't have needed to call in a team of so many experts. He'd made sure no one knew the real problem so everyone would arrive calmly and the information didn't have any time to leak to the other employees, or god forbid, the residents, before it could be fixed. They couldn't afford a park-wide panic.

"Now that you're all here, I can go ahead with the briefing." As soon as Coulson started talking, the chatter that had been going on between Fitz and Trip and Bobbi and Jemma stopped while they all paid attention. "I'm sure as you all know by now, the growth of the Indominus rex has taken a bit of an unusual turn." Coulson threw a glance at Simmons; this was one aspect of the issue that was actually on her for not predicting the final height and weight of the dinosaur accurately. Jemma's metaphorical tail tucked between her legs and she was sure Skye was just relishing this and keeping the tidbit so she'd have something she could actually blame Jemma for later.

"We've called you here because we need you two," Coulson motioned towards Bobbi and Skye, "to take a look at her behavior and determine whether or not this enclosure can contain her. Fitz, you'll make adjustments according to the handlers' report, and Simmons, you'll be here to distribute and compartmentalize knowledge as necessary. " Coulson motioned towards the glass and asked for everyone to step forward and take a look. There was some movement and rustling in the thick foliage, and Coulson pointed it out. "There it is."

"Ah, Director Coulson, sir?" Jemma piped up. Everyone's eyes were on her and Jemma walked a few steps over to another panel of glass. "How did this happen?" She asked, tapping on the large cracked portion of the window with one finger.

Skye's eyes shot to Simmons, and then to the glass she was pointing at. Five layers of the thickest, reinforced material had been cracked through, and the brunette ignored the dinosaur lurking just past the trees and ferns, and reached out her hand and slid it over the glass. She could feel the cracks. Her mind was racing. Not even an anklyosaurus could crack through five layers of aluminum oxynitride glass.

"She cracked it…" Bobbi spoke up, coming to take a closer look as well, "Two weeks ago. The ACU guard was leaning against the class. She charged at him." The taller blonde looked down to Skye and the two locked eyes for several minutes. Bobbi had already been to the paddock several times, and knew a little bit more than the others upon arriving. She had been assigned to it the past three years and things had steadily been getting worse. She didn't understand it, and so she needed Skye's help. Bobbi watched the concern spread over the shorter woman's face, before both tore their gaze away and looked out into the paddock.

"I don't see her…" Skye breathed quietly, although she could pick up the movements just beyond the thick trees. The sunlight must have hit just right because then she took a step closer, eyes squinting as she looked out into the enclosure. "She's white…she's enormous. This enclosure doesn't enough square feet if the both of them are that big. Where is the other one?" She couldn't tear her eyes away. Something just about the way it kept out of sight disturbed her. She could still feel the animal's eyes on her. These of course, came from practice with the raptors during their hide and seek training. Skye knew when she was being stalked.

"Um, Skye... Ms. Johnson, sorry... there is no other one." Jemma mumbled. She had noticed Skye talking about the Indominus rex in plural pronouns, but she had just assumed Skye meant the Indominus rex species, she didn't know Skye still wasn't aware of what had happened. "This is the only one, it's been the only one for three years."

"What do you mean there is no other one?" Skye whirled around, turning her back to the glass to look at the scientist. She was fumbling through her words again, which, Skye noticed, she seemed to do when talking to her when she wasn't particularly angry. "I sent you two. There were two indominus when I sent them. You can't just lose a forty foot dinosaur," Her hand was stretched out back towards the glass, motioning to the indominus still skulking about beyond the trees.

"She ate it," Bobbi chimed in quickly, taking a step forward and nodding towards the dinosaur in the enclosure. "She ate the sibling."

"Excuse me? When did this happen? How long has she been in there by herself?!" Skye's heart was starting to race. She was pretty sure she was going to be seeing red any minute now. Her hand were on her hips, grabbing there firmly, trying to keep herself in control and calm, but it wasn't really working.

"Two months after they were transferred. She's been alone in the paddock for close to three years," Bobbi finished and crossed her arms. It was clear that she wasn't very happy about the situation either and she could tell that Skye was going to go off the handle. Shit had hit the metaphorical fan, but she had known it was coming for a while. The other expert had had no idea.

"She's been…alone, in isolation in this same enclosure, that is _too small for her_ for three years? _Bobbi_ …" Skye shook her head and turned to look back through the broken glass, "Of all people…you should know better. Animals need a social structure. They don't do well in isolation, especially carnivores."

"There have been too many complications, Johnson. We can't just move her. We can't exactly give her playdates with other dinosaurs, not after what she did to her sister. Isolation seemed like the best option," Bobbi explained and sighed, looking down at the brunette who was still staring out of the glass.

"Did you know that no one imprinted on her? She has no social structure! Of course there are going to be complications. They were fine when I sent them to you, what happened?!"

"Ms. Johnson, please." Coulson interrupted her, probably preventing someone getting yelled at. "It was an impossible situation, the Indominus rex just cannot be controlled by people and cannot get along with other dinosaurs." He began, finally answering Skye's question with an explanation. "This dinosaur is more intelligent than the rest. She's found her place at the top of the food chain and she knows it. She was smart enough to remember where food came from and one of our guards was killed before we could devise a new feeding arrangement. There was nothing that could be done." As he explained, Coulson nodded to Fitz, who walked over to the controls and caused a large hook to slowly descend from above the paddock with a large carcass hanging from it. "If you would, take a look at the dinosaur and tell me if you think it would be able to escape this enclosure by scaling the walls."

As the raw meat slowly lowered into the paddock, everyone's eyes were on it, and it didn't take long to figure out that the Indominus rex was no longer there watching them, it had disappeared entirely.

"Oh my god, the only semi-positive relationship this dinosaur has with anything is with a hook? It's not even alive, it's just a chunk of meat," Skye was shaking her head. She couldn't believe it. The entire situation appalled her and as she stood there, watching intently, the baited hook continued to sway with no dinosaur in sight.

"She doesn't want it offered to her on a silver platter. She's wants to hunt! We even let the velociraptors hunt. It's in their nature, it's in her blood...you can't suppress sixty-five million years of raw instinct. We even give the T-Rex live goats! She's not having it…" The brunette put a hand on her chin as she watched. Nothing was happening. "She's done. She knows what she wants…and it's not that," Nodding towards the hook and looking back at the group, she didn't notice the thick wires shake.

Suddenly, the thick chunk of meat dropped and the taught wire cord snapped and went cracking back into the glass, causing everyone to jump back, especially Skye, who had a front row seat. The wire had left some scuffs where it hit the glass, but hadn't broken through like the indominus had. The meat had landed somewhere in the brush and now Skye's eyes were wide, along with Trip's as they watched what they could see of the creature past the foliage tear into carcass.

"That's the third time she's snapped the wire," Bobbi groaned, one hand on her head and one hand on her hip.

"She is one hundred and fifty percent done with all of this," Skye sighed and finally managed to rip her eyes away from the sight. "She is forty-two feet tall and the walls are forty-seven. These walls need to be rebuilt to at least sixty feet assuming she is fully grown, and this glass needs to be thicker…as far as if she can scale the wall…well that depends." The raptor trainer turned her full attention onto Simmons then, "Whatever she is, she's _not_ a dinosaur, and I need to know exactly _what_ she is before I can make any informed decisions on her behavior. As it stands now, she doesn't need to be on this island. Contained or not, she's a danger and a threat, just like my raptors. That's why they're on Isla Sorna and not fit for viewing. She, Indominus Rex, is _not_ in any way fit to be seen by the public."

Coulson interrupted what seemed like a staring contest between the carnivore handler and the scientist and got to work making sure everyone would cooperate. Now was no time for petty arguments.

"Fitz, get to work on the construction design, Morse and Trip, help Fitz come up with a building strategy that will keep our workers from getting eaten, Skye and Simmons, use each other's knowledge to determine if there are any other special means of security or other issues that need to be addressed to contain the I-rex." Coulson ignored Skye's advice on not opening the Indominus rex paddock as an attraction, Hydra Co. paid millions of dollars to sponsor the attraction and they would get stuck in a massive legal battle if Ward found out they weren't putting his monster on show. "Simmons, try to actually help her, but remember your contract." Coulson said sternly. Now that it was clear how dangerous the Indominus rex was, if the knowledge on what created it somehow got out he didn't want to know what kind of horrible things the science would be used for.

Jemma groaned and grit her teeth, putting her free hand against her forehead and turning away from everyone for a brief moment to calm down. She was constantly being reminded that she needed to give away information to help other people do their jobs, but she was also under strict orders not to say anything. Was she somehow supposed to just give helpful hints without actually giving anything away, advice like "hey, she's smart," and "oh, you shouldn't do that, but I can't tell you why"?

Out of the corner of her eye, Jemma caught Fitz and Trip sharing a look, but she ignored it, as it was the same thing they'd been doing for the past couple of days. They'd been acting odd, but that was the least of her problems at this point in time.

"What do you need to know?" Jemma finally asked as calmly as possible, turning to face the woman she was supposed to be working with.

"Well, for starters, I need to know what she's made of to be able to assess the full potential of her intelligence and determine all the basic behaviors which could stem from whatever you just shoved into her DNA, but let me guess, you can't tell me any of that stuff because ' _it's classified_ '," Skye even used air quotes. It was obvious by this point that she was frustrated that no one was taking her warning seriously. The I-Rex had proven herself to be a formidable creature, and the brunette didn't want to have to find out _exactly_ how formidable and intelligent she was.

Coulson had said that she knew her place in the food chain, but having been separated from every other living creature, being left alone by herself in the enclosure, probably had her confused. She had had no social interaction for three years. She had no relationship with anything other than the hook that brought the food, and now from what Skye could tell, she was getting fed up with it. She was getting frustrated. She didn't know what she was, but Skye knew that the dinosaur had a whole mess on instincts floating around in her blood. She wanted to hunt. She wanted to use her intellect and do what she thought she was born to do. The indominus rex had no idea what her place in the world was…and the carnivore expert didn't think anyone really wanted her to find out.

Jemma sighed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Skye was right, she did need to know what was in the Indominus rex to help her do her job, Jemma was just more frustrated with the situation and the fact that she was legally bound to silence. Skye didn't seem to understand this though, it was like she was taking it as a personal offense that Jemma wouldn't tell her what was inside the dinosaur's DNA.

"You're right. _I. Can't. Tell you."_ Jemma hissed quietly. "I know you're frustrated and believe me, I know _exactly_ how you feel." Jemma began, ignoring the look on Skye's face and continuing. "I don't know how Coulson expects me to tell you what you need to know while also keeping the information a secret. I'm not allowed to tell you what creatures I actually used in the DNA sequencing, but I have to tell you what the outcomes will be." This seemed to at least ease Skye's anger a little bit, as Jemma had finally found a way to be able to tell her something, anything.

"And I can 'access the full potential of her intelligence'," Jemma said defensively. "I can't tell you how, but she is _very_ intelligent. From what I've heard and knowing the animals she's made up of, she probably has an intelligence level somewhere between a sea lion and a whale, which is far more intelligent than any reptile ever." She informed her quickly. "She can reason, she can remember, and she probably has a rate of learning close to that of a young human child."

Jemma knew everything she was saying was absolutely stunning the handler, but she wasn't going to wait. Now that she knew what she was allowed to say, she was going to ease the brunette's annoying act of bothering her and she was going to flood her with information.

"It's a possibility that she could have acquired these traits, but the skills of animals bits of her DNA were taken from include vision that can detect thermal heat and the ability to camouflage herself."

"Shit, Simmons, you might as well have given it wings and let it breathe fire, you practically made a dragon," Skye rolled her eyes in exasperation and sighed as she did so, both hands planted firmly on her hips. Her head was shaking and she was staring at the floor. Such a level of intelligence for such a dangerous creature was…phenomenal to say the least. It stunned her and she was intrigued, but it was also her job to know when enough was enough.

The brunette sighed again and took a step closer to the scientist, leaning in just a little bit after making sure that Coulson had left and was busy doing something else. "Listen, Simmons, they _can't_ show her. She is not a safe asset. We can build and build, but if she is that smart, she's going to keep working new angles until something breaks…and I don't think it will be her."

"I know. I know." Jemma said back quietly, practically whispering now. They couldn't let this conversation be heard by Coulson, not unless they found a way to fix this. "They've practically already forced me into making that next." She whispered. When she looked up and met eyes with Skye, she saw the confused look on her face and elaborated. "Dragons." Skye had an incredulous look on her face.

"I'm not kidding. They've already assigned me another project and are expecting something even bigger and badder than the Indominus. This is all corporate. Hydra was the one who manipulated me into creating this thing and they're at it again, but I don't know what to do. Grant Ward pays me regular visits to insure that I'm making his monsters as scary as he wants them." Jemma practically spit out the man's name.

"I'm with you on the fact that she should not be anywhere near people, not on this island, and probably not even in existence, but I'm backed into a corner here. If you have some brilliant plan that will convince Coulson not to show her, I'm all ears."

"Oh yeah, totally, just formed an entire plan in the past five seconds that I have _learned all of this new information_ ," Skye rolled her eyes and pulled her face away, glancing around the room again. She saw the other group of experts talking and looked around again for Coulson, but he had apparently stepped outside. Simmons had given her one good piece of information though. Ward was harassing her just as much. Hydra Co. clearly had an agenda, especially if it was to get all of the scariest dinosaurs ever made onto the same island for twenty thousand people to see.

"All we can do right now is our job. Assess her, rebuild the paddock, and pray she's more towards the sea lion end of the intelligence spectrum than the whale."

Jemma let out an exasperated sigh at Skye's sarcasm. She just didn't know when to quit. It wasn't helping their situation any, the only thing it was doing was making Jemma even more frustrated than she already was. She bit the inside of her cheek to refrain from snapping right back at her and instead focused on their job.

"There are already thermal heat detectors installed all over the paddock, so my best suggestion would be to definitely make the walls higher and possibly design a second door like you have in your raptor enclosure, but on a grander scale." Jemma suggested, going into ideas now.

Bobbi had migrated over to Fitz and Trip per Coulson's assignment of them working together, and she had noticed the two men watching the other carnivore expert and the scientist interact. It made the blonde purse her lips and lean over to the taller of the two men, "So, what's that over there about?" She asked, taking her hand and gesturing to all of Skye and all of Jemma as they got into their quiet, yet heated debate on the other side of the room.

"That," Trip said, placing a hand on Bobbi's shoulder, "Is the epitome of unrealized sexual tension. Fitz and I have a little bet going that they'll get together soon. I think they'll kiss by the end of the week, and he thinks they won't."

"They won't!" Fitz laughed quietly, gesturing towards Jemma. "Do you see how mad Simmons is? And there's that vein sticking out on Skye's neck, she is not happy. They are not going to just start liking each other out of nowhere." He argued. "In fact, I'm willing to raise the bet. Fifty dollars says they don't kiss by the end of the week."

"A hundred dollars says they fuck by the end of the week."

The sentence was abrupt, and well timed in the silence that followed Fitz raising the bet. Trip hadn't even had time to see his own bet up before Bobbi had butted in, and now the two men were looking at her like she was mildly insane.

"Uh, Bobs, I don't think you know how to bet properly. Is it your intention to lose two hundred dollars to us?" Trip asked, nodding towards the two girls. He saw everything Fitz saw. The veins, the red faces, the irritation. He had to admit, it was going to be hard to get them to kiss by the end of the week, but to actually go all the bases and hit home? It wasn't happening.

"I'm not going to lose. I'm going to win, and I'm going to collect two hundred dollars at the end of the week," Bobbi said, confidently and without any doubts. She turned from the two men and nodded again towards the girls on the other side, "You two aren't paying attention. Like you said, that there is a bundle of sexual tension about to explode, and when it does, it's going to be all encompassing and not just a silly kiss. Watch how they move," Bobbi grew quiet as she watched the two girls. Yes, she could plainly see that they were angry, or irritated with each other, but what she also saw was how close they were. Whenever the scientist shifted one way, her fellow carnivore handler shifted the other way, keeping the balance between them, almost like a subtle dance they didn't even know they were doing.

"When Simmons moves, Johnson moves. They don't even know they are countering each other. Body language says everything gentlemen."

Fitz went silent and observed the two women in the new way Bobbi had described them. Yes, she was right about the way they were moving, but Fitz knew Jemma wasn't the type to just get so angry with a person that she would stop and have sex with her. That wasn't the rule-following person he knew she was. He still didn't see how that slight movement made Bobbi want to risk losing two hundred dollars. She was just crazy.

"No, I just don't see it happening." Fitz determined after a moment. "I still have fifty bucks saying they won't kiss by the end of the week, but sure, Bobbi, if you want to give me a hundred dollars, I'm not going to stop you." He chuckled. Coulson walked by and gave them a glare, spurring them into action on their actual assignment.

It didn't take the three of them long to come up with a plan. The walls would be constructed one panel at a time, and while workers were increasing the height on one side of the paddock, several people would distract the dinosaur somewhere else. The order the panels were added would be random, in case the Indominus rex really was smart enough to figure out their pattern and attack the workers. Hopefully the dinosaur, or whatever it was, didn't find a way to outsmart them.


	3. Cardio

It had been three days and the paddock was only a little over halfway completed. Workers were going around the clock, from dusk till dawn, trying to get it ready in haste and avoiding the creature trying to prey on them from the tree line. Their plan to stop her from figuring out where people would be had worked the first day. The large creature had been easily distracted from the workers for the better part of the first day, desperately trying to get to those who were doing the distracting.

The second day, Skye found her to be acting rather curious. They hung food, they set loose a rather large hog into the enclosure, they tried distracting it every other way, but the Indominus never came out. It never went after the distractions and it never went after the workers. Whenever Skye was there, she had kept checking the thermal, and sure enough, the dinosaur was patrolling around in the center of the enclosure, away from everyone. It had relieved the workers, but it troubled the raptor trainer.

Midafternoon of the third day of construction had come and gone. Skye had busied herself with the raptors after having checked on her new Tyrannosaur just before lunch. She had been mid training session when she got the call. She had actually decided to ignore it, until one of her fellow handlers shouted down to her from the catwalk above the raptor enclosure the contents of the phone call.

They had temporarily stopped construction. Watching the people work all day had apparently paid off for the Indominus Rex, because just after lunch, the creature had made her move. She had managed to distract the distractors and take the workers by surprise. One was apparently dead with either two or three seriously injured. By the time Skye pulled up in the jeep construction had been stopped all together and the workers dispersed to handle the crisis. The chopper had already taken the injured to the staff medical building. She was needed to do another assessment on the I-Rex. Bobbi was busy with the mosasaur, her reason for not being available.

It had only taken three days for the I-Rex to work around their plan A. They needed a plan B. They needed to think three or four steps ahead of the Indominus, because while they thought they had the upper hand, she was busy calculating up to two steps ahead. She knew what they were all going to do before they knew it themselves, and this bothered Skye. Her intelligence was proving to be more towards the whale side of the scale, but as a raptor trainer, she felt she was better equipped to start thinking in steps. She just hoped she could catch up.

The place was eerily empty, except for a few scattered workers about, waiting to be called back. She was amazed that they had stayed and were still willing to work after she heard the gruesome details over the phone. The brunette made her way up the stairs to the door of the viewing chamber and swiped her ID card and put her hand on the scanner, allowing the door to click open. She grabbed the handle and turned, opening up the door and letting out a rush of cool air to greet her. Skye was glad for the air conditioning. It was another exceptionally hot day and just from the walk from the jeep to the viewing room had made her feel sticky again.

* * *

Jemma was panicking. Her nerve was ruined after having witnessed the attack on the workers earlier that day. The panel had been near enough to the viewing chamber, where she'd been overseeing the whole operation. Coulson didn't want to send her back to Isla Sorna just yet, he didn't want her an hour's ferry ride away if she was needed, so he resolved to keep her on Isla Nublar with the Indominus rex until everything was under control.

There wasn't really much Jemma could do though. Sure, she'd created the Indominus rex and constructed its genetic makeup, but there wasn't much she was good for after that. Coulson seemed to believe that Jemma was just full of secret knowledge she hadn't revealed yet, like a blind spot. Maybe he was expecting that she somehow programmed a self destruct button into it, and now that she thought about it, she wished she had the capability to. By the looks of it, the situation was only getting worse, and Skye was right. If they couldn't finish the construction on the paddock soon, the dinosaur would not be safely contained.

She was pacing now, tired of sitting still going over data over and over again on her tablet as she had been all day. They were treading dangerous waters, and every second was another second something bad could happen. Every time her phone rang now it was bad news, and Jemma was just stuck here biding her time, waiting for more.

She didn't have to wait long for it to be delivered, however, and this time it was firsthand instead of through an urgent phone call. Jemma's eyes widened and she rushed over to the glass of the viewing room, a horrified look on her face.

"No, no, no... how could this happen?!" She was muttering to herself now as she pressed her hands up against the thick glass and stared at a wall panel not too far away. There were huge scratches in the concrete from the ground all the way to the top. It wasn't possible, Jemma didn't know how it was possible. The paddock was split into four quarters, and the controls were set to alert her if the Indominus rex moved from one of the four zones in the paddock to another, but the last Jemma had heard an alarm, the dinosaur was on the opposite side of the site. The scratches on the wall were telling Jemma that the technology had malfunctioned somehow, and that the dinosaur had been able to claw up a wall while she was in here without even getting noticed. Had it escaped?!

Jemma pulled her phone from her back pocket, but her hands were too shaky to even enter her own password to get past the lock screen.

When the door buzzed, signaling that someone had swiped an ID card over the panel, Jemma flinched. It would be a huge understatement to say she was jumpy. The world's most dangerous creature could be on the loose in a park filled with twenty thousand people and Jemma was the only one that knew. Skye walked in, her usual casual look of distaste on her face, and Jemma didn't think she'd ever been happier to see her.

"Thank god." She sighed, rushing over to her. "I think the Indominus rex managed to climb over the wall where it hasn't been constructed yet." She said frantically, pointing behind her to the scratched up concrete outside the window.

Skye's brain couldn't even process the girl's words. The scientist had rushed up on her so fast and Skye hadn't been expecting it. She had almost taken a step back, colliding with the now shut door of the viewing room, blinking a couple of times to try and steady herself. It must really have been hot outside because she thought Simmons had just told her that the Indominus Rex was out and about, loose on the island, but that couldn't be true. Or at least she certainly hoped it couldn't.

"Uhm…I'm sorry, do you want to run that…by me…again?" Skye had been staring at the smaller girl, asking the question, before she had let her eyes wander, midsentence, over to where she was pointing. When her eyes laid sight on the claw marks up the door, the brunette's mouth went dry and any more words got caught in her throat. She placed a firm hand on the girl's shoulder and pushed her, maybe a little too forcefully, out of her way as Skye quickly strode over to the glass, gazing out with wide eyes at the side of the paddock marked up with scratches and claw marks.

"I might be quoting myself from the other day, but…how does a forty foot dinosaur just disappear?! Weren't you watching her?!" Skye shouted, whirling around fast, locking eyes with Simmons. The vein in her neck had to be popping out again. She just knew she was right. Indominus wasn't safe. She wasn't something that needed to be tampered with.

Jemma had nothing. She had no excuse and she had absolutely nothing to say to Skye if she was just going to yell at her throw accusations instead of actually help.

"And I am also quoting myself from yesterday, but _I don't know_!" Jemma yelled. She turned her back on Skye, thoroughly done dealing with her, and ran back to the table where her tablet was sitting. While Skye still seemed to be taking in the news, Jemma was already madly typing on the touch screen.

"The thermal systems are all up and running, I don't understand why it wouldn't have picked up on the massive thing moving over here!" Jemma yelled, mostly talking to herself and only partially to Skye. One by one, each of the cameras in the paddock popped up on her screen, and none of them had any orange or red blurs on them. Each came up with the same beeping message, telling here there were no heat signatures detected.

"This can't be happening." Jemma was hysterical now.

Skye's hands were in her hair, grabbing her head a she spun around to look at the screens and then back into the paddock. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This was happening. They had somehow lost the largest and most dangerous animal on the entire island and it was now loose and about with twenty thousand guests.

"Okay, okay, get the Control Room on the phone. Get the biggest ACU unit they can manage and get them down here now. Pull up that tracking device. We need to know where she is going and how fast," a switch seemed to go off in Skye's brain and suddenly the raptor trainer was on top of things. She had already moved over and grabbed a walkie from the security stand and was fastening it around her belt.

"Tell them the carnivore expert advises live ammunition! I'm going to check it out, stay here!"

Almost tripping down the steps, Skye hastily made it down was walking around the back side to the small maintenance door. She swiped her card again and the door clicked open and she stepped inside the small second security room. A man sitting at a chair in front of another set of computers, happily sipping his coffee, looked surprised to see someone come in. Normally all visitors went the main viewing booth, not the back up security closet.

"You," Skye pointed at him and motioned for him to get up, "You're coming with me. We have a possible code nineteen, asset out of containment. Hustle, hustle, get off your ass," Skye urged and the man quickly got up and grabbed the rifle on the wall and slung it over his shoulder before he opened up the door that led to the inside of the paddock.

Skye was cautious, carefully scanning the area around them before she moved outside and motioned for the man to follow her. The door shut behind him and she kept an eye out as they walked over to the panel of wall that was marked up. "What…are you made of I wonder…" Skye traced her hand over one of the marks. It was nearly two feet long and some of the concrete had been gouged away. She had some powerful claws, that much was apparent. Her front arms must have a lot more function than that of a T-rex, or even a raptor for her to have been able to scale a straight up wall.

Jemma got to work immediately, glad to finally be useful, despite the terrible situation. She called up Fitz, who had been temporarily stationed in the park's main control room so he was also on the Island until everything was cleared up, which looked like it was going to take a long longer than expected. Jemma paced back and forth across the room as the phone dialed, and she watched as Skye and someone from maintenance entered the paddock through the main gate and started inspecting the damaged panel. She double checked the thermal readings while she waited, but there was still nothing.

"Fitz!" Jemma shouted into the phone as soon as he picked up, not bothering to wait for him to say hello. She didn't have any time for formalities. "I need you to activate the tracker on the Indominus rex and send the feed to my tablet, _now._ " Jemma ordered him. She was bad in a crisis, but Fitz was even worse and she knew she would need to tell him exactly what to do.

"Why, what's going-"

"Just _do it_ Fitz. And call in the largest ACU unit available, weapons hot." She commanded, picking up her tablet again. Within a matter of seconds, a map showed up on Jemma's screen and she waited anxiously while their satellite pinged the I-rex. When a red dot finally appeared, Jemma was in disbelief. The device said the dinosaur was still in the enclosure. Not just in the enclosure, but right outside the viewing area, not a hundred yards from Skye and the maintenance staff member.

"Watch the security feed and close that door as soon as Skye is close enough to get through it in time!" Jemma yelled her next order, taking the phone away from her ear before her friend could ask any questions and throwing it down on the table, running for the second radio. She ran back to the observational window with it, one hand on the glass and eyes scanning the area surrounding the carnivore handler. Just when Jemma thought the situation couldn't get any worse, she saw the Indominus's green camouflage melt away as its gaze settled on Skye. Jemma's heart pounded in her chest as she realized just what they were up against.

Somehow, during the construction process, the dinosaur had figured out they were using thermal imaging to track her, and she somehow found a way to regulate and lower her own body temperature to avoid it. Not only this, but she _planned_ her own escape. She made everyone successfully think she'd escaped the paddock to get them to open the doors, she even scratched up the short panel nearest to the exit. The dinosaur wasn't just intelligent, it was _smart._ _People smart._

"Skye, you need to get out of there now!" Jemma screamed into the handheld radio, hoping beyond hope that the signal went through the impossibly thick glass. Her heart was pounding in her chest when Skye didn't react the way she wanted her to and run. Skye annoyed her, but Jemma definitely didn't want her to die. She found herself caring more about Skye getting out than the maintenance staff, and Jemma was horrified to even think she held feelings that strong for her. That didn't matter in the slightest right now, though. "Skye, get out! The Indominus rex is _inside the paddock with you!_ " Jemma shouted. She began jumping up and down, banging on the glass and trying to make as much motion as possible in hopes that it would also catch Skye's eye so she could somehow signal her to run. Jemma grabbed the phone in preparation, ready to command Fitz to close the door in case he didn't know when himself.

Skye absentmindedly grabbed for the radio when she heard bits and pieces of Jemma's voice. The signal between the two walkies must have been disrupted by all the concrete. The raptor handler took a step back from the wall, putting the radio up to her mouth, "Yeah I didn't catch that Doc, say again?" She held the radio over her head, as if that somehow might help the signal as she turned to look up into the viewing room. Just as she saw Simmons banging on the glass the second message came through.

The walkie was on the ground, crashing into the dirt as tension raced up her body and through her legs. She felt herself being coiled up like a spring before she turned around, eyes on the horizon before they slowly scanned upward.

"Back to the maintenance door!"

Green flesh melted away to reveal pristine white scales and a creature of daunting size. She had not been able to see it clearly the past few days but now Skye wished that her view wasn't so… _up close._ Her legs sprang into action and she almost tripped over herself in the dirt trying to get her footing. The maintenance man wasn't far behind and the both of them shot off back towards the small door to the left of the viewing room as the Indominus burst from the tree line, mouth open and front limbs poised for attack.

Skye barely had time to stop before the white dinosaur had overtaken them, crossing in front of the two of them and cutting off their escape to the maintenance hatch. The frightened handler was already pivoting to change course, back towards the main gate, which she saw now had begun to open. She had no time to think, her heart pounding in her ears and her lungs on fire with fear as she forced her legs to go faster towards the gate. It hadn't just caught up to them. It had blocked them off. It was _herding_ them. She was making a break for the gate.

"Shut the door!" Skye was waving her arms over her head as she ran, hoping that Simmons would see her, hear her somehow and get the gate shut. If she made it through the gate, then she made it through, but they couldn't release this monster out into the park. The gate open was exactly what she wanted.

"Shut the _fucking_ doo-" Skye didn't finish. She heard a shriek from behind her and a sickening crunch which made her blood run cold the same time that it felt like it was on fire. The brunette didn't look back to see what had happened. She could only assume the worst, which at this point, was probably going to be her own fate.

Skye could practically feel the hot breath shooting out of the dinosaur's mouth and onto the back of her neck. The indominus was chasing her, head down and mouth wide open towards the now closing gate. It wasn't closing fast enough though, and as Skye slid through the thick steel and concrete door, the Indominus Rex was right behind her, crashing into it, muzzle and front shoulder already through.

The brunette didn't stop running, and, spying the jeep, made a beeline for the vehicle. She slid through the gravel, ripping her pants and rolled under the car. Not a muscle moved, not even an inch as the brunette kept herself still, trying to contain her breathing and keep her heart from pounding so loudly. It was almost simultaneous, because as Skye slid under the car, the Indominus gave one last shove, and the gate door slid open enough, causing the walls around the gate to crack as the eight ton white dinosaur took its first steps of freedom.

Jemma dropped both the phone and the radio in shock as soon as the Indominus rex began its chase. She couldn't peel her eyes away and was watching helplessly as Skye ran for her life because she'd been outsmarted by a reptile. She threw her hand over her eyes just in time to miss the sickening death of the maintenance man who had been completely innocent in all of this.

Hairs on the back of Jemma's neck stood on end and even though it wasn't scientifically possible, Jemma was worried she would have a heart attack from sheer fright and panic alone. The Indominus rex got out. It managed to follow Skye, who Jemma was no longer positive was alive, out the main entrance. It had gotten exactly what it wanted, and it had manipulated many people to do it.

She dove for the phone again, yelling about how an asset was out of containment and how that ACU unit needed to come with lethal weapons instead of stun guns and they needed to come fast, even though Fitz already knew all of this. He had seen the whole thing through the security footage, and so had the entire control room in the park, apparently. The northern attractions were being shut down at the moment, but that didn't please Jemma. The dinosaur had the ability to move very quickly, and Jemma told Fitz to inform Coulson of her opinion about shutting down the entire park and evacuating, though she didn't think it would matter much.

"Jemma, stay on the line." Fitz begged her, but Jemma had already hung up. She knew Fitz was worried, but if she tried to stay on the phone to ease his anxiety, she wouldn't be able to get anything done. Jemma rushed to the tablet and accessed the cameras outside the paddock, but immediately turned them off when she saw the dinosaur picking off fleeing workers. She didn't see Skye anywhere, and Jemma was horrified. Of course she was probably the only person on the entire planet who had ever gotten her crush eaten by a dinosaur.

Jemma threw the tablet down and sat down on the floor between the table and the window, hoping it would conceal her at least a little bit if the dinosaur ended up wandering back inside through the completely destroyed door to look for her. She had no doubt that it knew she was still here, but running was not an option. Instead, Jemma pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them silently, still in shock. This was out of her hands now, there was nothing more she had to offer if she was stuck here with only a tablet and a cell phone, both of which wouldn't work soon because the wireless signals would be jammed with panicked people all calling each other.

Skye had cut the fuel line to the jeep, spilling gasoline all over herself, which she rubbed all over her clothes and arms as quickly as she could before snapping still. The earth shook with every step and the Indominus came right up against the jeep, nudging it with its large body, getting it to move, trying to startle whatever red and orange splotch she saw underneath with her heat sensing vision. The brunette was gritting her teeth and holding her breath, hands in fists, holding completely still as the dinosaur's nose breathed in and out heavily, trying to smell her under the jeep.

The smell of the gasoline hit its nose and it let out a rancid breath that made Skye want to vomit. She could see the blood and pieces of cloth still in its teeth from the maintenance man she had taken into the paddock with her. She should have never gone in. Seemingly satisfied, the Indominus had other things to capture its attention.

All the remaining workers were scattering, creating a field of people running that would look only like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. Apparently it was right up the I-Rex's ally, because she shot out after the first one, capturing him with ease by snatching him up with her front claws. The dinosaur even through him into the air, catching him mid fall in her jaws and crunching down, already chasing after the next before she had fully consumed the other.

Skye manage to finally bring herself into focus, and she rolled over onto her stomach, trying to get a good view of the Indominus as it chased after the poor workers. It couldn't be helped now, but she needed to get her own self to safety first before she could worry about others. Now that she was out of the paddock, Skye thought she would be more useful alive than dead, since her previous efforts hadn't prevented this shit stain of a crisis. The brunette waited with bated breath as the Indominus grew further and further away, chasing after the fleeing workers. She only had one shot while it was distracted, and so Skye quickly rolled out the other side from under the jeep and scrambled up.

She took one last look behind her. The dinosaur had just closed in on another worker. She ran. She willed her lungs to fill with oxygen and stop their burning while her nose was on fire from the gas and the fumes. She managed to scramble up the stairs and swipe her card. _Denied_. Panic took over and she swiped it again, turning to look over her shoulder one more time. She heard the beeping that meant her card had been denied again, and the Indominus was running out of other people to focus on. Skye turned her attention back to the door as the monster closed its jaws around the last escaping worker.

She banged on the door, loudly, after swiping her card one more time. _Denied._

"Simmons! Simmons, come open the door!" Skye shouted hurriedly, banging on the door again and shaking the handle. The door was locked and it wouldn't open for her. The system had apparently been shorted and her card wasn't working. The other girl, assuming she was still inside, would have to open it for her.

 _"_ _Simmons, hurry_!"

Jemma was probably close to hyperventilating, hearing the incredibly loud roars from the powerful dinosaur even from inside the thick concrete room. The sounds of screams were barely audible, which was why Jemma was so surprised when one particularly recognizable voice reached her ears very clearly, along with a sharp banging on the door. _Skye._

It hardly took any time at all for Jemma to scramble to her feet and run for the door, only hesitant to open it for a second. She knew there was a dinosaur outside, but Jemma had put Skye into danger, and now she had to take her out, even if it risked her own safety. It took a second for her to unlock and open the heavy door manually after discovering the system was down, but she managed to pull it open. Skye had probably already been pressed up against the door, because she stumbled inside as soon as the opening was wide enough. Jemma slammed it shut, leaning her back against it and hoping the dinosaur didn't decide to come after them.

"You're alive." Jemma couldn't help the relieved smile on her face and the sigh that escaped her lips. She had definitely assumed Skye was dead after that chase and not being able to see her on camera, but apparently the girl's expertise in working in dangerous situations paid off.

"You seem…surprised…" Skye breathed, doubled over with both hands on her knees as she tried to control her racing heart and breathing. The adrenalin was still very _very_ active in her system and it wasn't long before she was upright again, making her way over to the control panel and ignoring the muffled sounds from the outdoors.

"She won't come this way. She's too preoccupied outside go to digging through a wall for us," The brunette confirmed and typed in some buttons on the computer and the security cam from outside came back up. To look at it sent chills down her spine but she was relieved to see that the Indominus was now making its way for the tree line. It was hard to stomach the chaos she had created all over the outside of the paddock but Skye worked with carnivores every day and she knew the carnage they could create if mishandled.

"Did you call the CR? Did you get them to send an ACU unit? Are they tracking her? The other systems seem to be down so we can't do much from in here," Skye tore her eyes from the screen while rambling out her questions and turned to look at the scientist. When she did, she stopped, and sighed slowly. Carefully, she made her way over to the woman, who still, of course look horrified. She had a right to be. The raptor handler doubted she had crisis training of this sort. Skye went through it at least every other month when Natasha managed to escape from the enclosure, but one raptor couldn't do near the damage as that creature outside could now.

"Look, Simmons, I know this is a fucking terrifying situation. I work with raptors every day and I'm scared out of my mind, so I can't imagine how you must feel, but we can't stay hiding in here. We need to get you to the Control Room," She pointed at her, before placing the same hand on her shoulder in a sign of comfort.

"You're the only one who knows what this thing is made of, and that ACU unit needs to know everything, contract or not. We will both be out of jobs if this thing gets near the park and attacks the public, so I think that's the least of your worries right now. I need to find Bobbi and maybe together with your information we can help Asset Containment stop her. Everyone is in danger, we've got to try and help, alright?" Skye gave a gentle squeeze before she let go of Simmons's shoulder and took a step back, "The maintenance man had a rifle. I'm going to go get it. I'll be right back, I promise. You need to grab whatever supplies you can find in here and get ready to go. The jeep is toast and it's a long walk back. We will have to find a vehicle she didn't wreck."

The carnivore expert took one last look at the outside camera. The indominus appeared to be gone…but that's what had fooled them before. Skye doubted she was going to stick around in the same spot though. She was experiencing everything outside the wall for the first time and she was going to be very busy finding her place in the world. The brunette grabbed for the door handle and heaved it open, taking in a breath as her eyes beheld the I-Rex's work first hand. They were going to need that gun, and it was still back in the paddock.

"I'll be right back. I swear," Skye took one last look at the frightened doctor before she nodded to her and left the viewing room, shutting the door behind her.

Skye's touch felt like a jolt of electricity and it made Jemma jump back into action, though Skye's words didn't leave her, even after she left the room. People were counting on her. A lot of people were counting on her, almost twenty thousand of them. She needed to do exactly what Skye said and make sure she got back to the control room so that she could finally spill everything she knew and help to make sure the monster of a dinosaur didn't wreak havoc on the park and its visitors.

Jemma watched on the security feed, about to throw up at the gory, bloody mess the Indominus rex had left behind, as Skye made her way back to the paddock, and then Jemma watched through the glass as Skye made her way back towards the rifle on the ground. She picked up her tablet from where she'd left it, and thankfully the tracking device and the map was still live. Of course it was still on for the ACU unit that would be going after the dinosaur soon, she was just glad Fitz left it available for her. The Indominus rex had moved a decent distance away in the two minutes since it left the area in front of the paddock, but now it wasn't moving. If the ACU unit was going to make its move, now would be the time.

That wasn't Jemma's job right now, though, she had other things she needed to do. Still glancing at Skye every few seconds when she was visible to make sure she was alright, Jemma got to work fulfilling her request. Jemma picked up the radio where she had dropped it, hoping Skye also grabbed the one she left in the paddock, and clipped it to the waistband of her jeans. If they had to somehow make it back to the Control Room through the jungle, cell phones wouldn't work. There wasn't much in the control room in the means of supplies, only a fire extinguisher that wouldn't help at all against a dinosaur. Jemma was beginning to think there wasn't anything that would save them if they somehow ran into the Indominus, the single rifle Skye was going to have wouldn't be able to stop it.

Jemma dialed Fitz again while she waited for Skye, and her lab partner picked up on the first ring.

"Simmons! Are you alright? I told you to stay on the line!" Jemma felt bad for scaring him like that, but she had been in shock at that moment and was only now coming back to her senses.

"I'm fine Fitz, and I'm with Skye. But everyone else is dead." Jemma got a little choked up on the last part as she realized that the monster she created was killing people. "What's going on out there?" She asked before he could say anything else. A sharp knock at the door had Jemma rushing over to it, and she greeted Skye with just a nod as she put the phone on speaker and slipped outside. The glaring sun in her eyes disoriented her for a moment, but as soon as Jemma figured out where the remains of all the vehicles and the people she kept her eyes away from it, instead looking at the tree line in the direction they needed to travel to get to the control room. There was a road, but without a vehicle it would only take longer to get to their destination than to go straight, and it wouldn't provide as much cover.

"The ACU team is using non-lethal stunning weapons, I told them you advised against it, but I had no influence. They're going to the location the tracker is giving us now." Fitz informed them.

Skye hoisted the rifle strap over her shoulder and reached back behind her to make sure that her knife was still secure. Once everything seemed to be in order, the brunette hurriedly ushered the both of them down the stairs and onto the gravel surrounding the paddock. She was just taking a peak at the tracking information on the doctor's tablet when she heard Fitz's voice over the phone, delivering the less than stellar news.

"Wait what? You're kidding?! You cannot be serious? They can't go after her with sleepers," The raptor handler was shaking her head as she walked more hurriedly now past the blood splatters and the overturned equipment, heading towards the opposite side away from the paddock and to the road. "Who was the idiot who said no to live ammunition? There is no good reason that they shouldn't be going in there hot to light her up and put her down. Shooting her with sleepers is just going to make her angry."

"Stay on the line this time, I'll tell you if anything happens." Fitz stopped answering then, no matter how many times Jemma and Skye tried to ask him something. Jemma sped up her pace, needing to walk quickly to keep up with Skye's long strides, which were covering even more distance at a faster speed now that she was upset. They walked in silence down the road, and Jemma kept glancing around her, expecting something to jump out of the trees any moment even though the tablet still showed the Indominus rex nearly a mile away. Something caught her attention in the corner of the screen that she should have been looking at before, and it made Jemma's eyes widen. She jogged the couple steps to catch up with Skye and tugged on her sleeve a bit to catch her attention while she continued to stare at the tablet.

"There's no signal, the location hasn't updated at all since we started walking. She could be anywhere." Jemma swallowed the lump in her throat and handed the device to Skye to look at while she began to talk to Fitz again. Her phone service was weak, and she grabbed Skye's shoulder to pull her to a stop so she could talk to Fitz before they got any further into the wilderness and couldn't contact him at all.

"Fitz, I need you to tell me exactly where Indominus is. Skye and I are on the road from the paddock back to the control room, how far away is it from us?" Jemma forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat and wait for Fitz's answer. She nervously made eye contact with Skye and tried to smile a little bit to show she wasn't freaking out too badly.

"You left the viewing chamber?! Are you crazy? It's not safe out there!" Fitz scolded her, but quickly complied to her request. "How far down the road? The tracker moved in that direction before it stopped, and the ACU team is about to get to that location now. Unless you're already closer to the control room than the paddock, you need to get out of there." Fitz told them urgently.

Skye had the gun in her hands, ready to cock it and pull the trigger as she scanned the tree line that surrounded either side of the road. She didn't like being told to stop, especially since they needed to keep moving, but she understood the importance of preserving what little phone signal they already had.

"We can't go back to the paddock. We need to get you to the control center. Tell him to get Morse to the control room as soon as possible. The Indominus has been under her jurisdiction for the past three years, she's going to know more than anyone at that room at present. Her advice will be invaluable to them until we get there. We have to keep going, but we _need_ to pick up the pace," Skye stressed the urgency of keeping on the move. If the Indominus really was not that far off from them, Skye wanted to put as much distance between her and the two of them as possible. As soon as Fitz relayed the coordinates, they would start moving again.

"Did you get that?" Jemma asked Fitz, and it was confirmed with a quick yes as Fitz began to repeat the information to Coulson, who was apparently also in the control room. Jemma anxiously waited for more information, the fact that the more experienced dinosaur handler was on alert and had her weapon ready made Jemma more than paranoid that the dinosaur was closer than they wanted it to be.

"Uh, we have a problem." Fitz's voice was slightly crackly due to the diminished signal, and Jemma waited with bated breath for an explanation of the situation. She could see Skye physically tense, and she was sure she was doing the same. Beeping could be heard in the background of the control room, and Jemma's heart rate skyrocketed. Something was very wrong.

"She clawed out her tracker!" Fitz said in a rush. Another large beep in the background had Fitz panicking. "It's killing everyone, and it's going to look for something else when it's done. You need to get back to that viewing chamber! Simmons, now!" Fitz was actively trying to scare Jemma into going back to where it was safe, but she wasn't going anywhere without Skye, so instead of answering him, Jemma looked up to Skye in question.

"She remembered where we implanted the tracker." Jemma said in horror and disbelief. Not only that, but she knew what the tracker was and that she needed it out for whatever plan the creature had and whatever it was going to do next. They were up against a brilliantly intelligent animal. Jemma would have been proud she had managed to create something so smart if each of its IQ points weren't going to be another five bodies.

Skye had been trying to listen to Fitz and his panicked warning but her straining ears picked up the sound of gunshots and faint screaming that filtered in through the thick trees. They were losing. The Indominus had lured them into a trap, just like she had lured Skye down into the paddock to get the doors open. The carnivore expert threw the gun back over her shoulder and tried to steady herself. She was tense as she listened, and when Simmons delivered her information, Skye was done waiting.

The brunette opened her mouth to speak but stopped when a screeching roar rippled through the air and made the hair on Skye's arms stand on end.

"Hang up, we need to go! We won't reach the paddock, we need to run!"

Skye didn't wait for the doctor to hang up the phone before she grabbed the girl by the wrist and had already pivoted around and was running, pulling the scientist behind her as she tugged the both of them into the trees.

"There's another security building to the north of the gyrosphere right?! We have to make it south towards the fence! C'mon, _keep up_!" The raptor trainer leapt over a rock and kept a firm hold on the doctor as she pulled her at a quickening pace through the underbrush. She risked a glance behind her at the frightened girl, and then looked past, some of the road still visible.

Skye felt her heart almost stop, or at least she was fairly certain it would have if it hadn't been for the adrenaline. She sparsely saw the white scaled leg through the trees and she almost tripped when she felt the earth beneath her shake with the power the dinosaur put into each move. It was definitely closer than she had anticipated and she faced forward again and pulled the doctor along with even more urgency until another roar shattered out over the tree tops.

The phone slipped from Jemma's hands before she could hang up and she didn't have time to stop and pick it up again, but that was the least of her worries. She could get a new phone if she wanted, but if she got snatched up by the dinosaur there would be no replacement for that. For just a split second before Jemma remembered how much danger she was in, she felt bad that Fitz wasn't going to know she was alive, the still running phone call and the roaring would probably lead him to think she was dead.

"It can still see us, Skye! It has thermographic vision, the trees don't help us!" Jemma shouted, but her words had no effect on Skye. The fingers wrapped around her wrist were gripping tightly, and Jemma wasn't sure if they were aiding or hindering her. Skye was a faster runner and the connection helped her keep up, but it also didn't give her much leeway for navigating obstacles, and no matter how much Skye kept shouting at her, she continued to stumble over everything in her path. Branches and shrubs that Skye's body pushed aside ahead of her came whipping back and stinging the skin on Jemma's arms and face, but she kept running. The ground vibrated beneath her about every other second, and the on and off pattern of the shaking told Jemma that it was definitely not an earthquake. It was much worse than that.

If her hands hadn't both been unavailable, Jemma would have covered her ears when the deafening roar sounded behind her. The Indominus rex may not have been chasing them before, but it definitely was now, and it was gaining on them, fast. Jemma clutched the tablet to her chest and pushed onward, fear driving her forward enough that her shoulder no longer felt like it was being pulled out of its socket because she'd gotten a few steps closer to Skye.

The brunette didn't even want to look back to see how close that roar had come from, but she needed to know how close it was. She needed to know if they had a chance. At the rate they were running as as far as they had already traveled down the road, it shouldn't be too long before they reached the back fence of the large herbivore plains where the gyrosphere attraction was located.

She glanced back. It was a mistake. A very large, white mistake with rows and rows of sharp teeth. "Scream louder, maybe she'll _hear us too!_ " Skye shouted and faced forward again, nearly tripping over a root before she regained her balance and kept going, careful to keep her hold on the scientist behind her. She knew she could probably outrun her, but that wasn't the point. She was going to get both of them out of this or she wasn't going to get either of them out of this. There was no inbetween.

She spotted a particularly large fallen trunk up ahead and she raced for it, pulling Simmons behind her at a faster pace and pulled the girl under it, and then suddenly changed directions with her and started running again.

"The cover isn't the point! She's _slower_ in the woods!" Skye shouted and was glad to see that the trees were thinning out. When she looked up she could see the top of the guard tower and she change their angle to make sure that they were heading for it. There was a loud crash as the Indominus smashed through the log, roaring to somewhat of a stop, shaking its head to get the splintered wood from its eyes. Skye caught sight of it and suddenly she felt something constrict in her chest. She had an idea. It was a very _bad_ idea, but it just might work.

She released the doctor's hand, "Keep running for the tower! We're almost there!" She shouted. The two of them would be able to see the high electric fence just through the trees. "Don't stop!" Skye slowed her pace to run just behind her, making sure that the smaller girl didn't stop. As the two of them burst through the trees, Skye skidded to a halt in the grass and pulled the rifle from her back.

"Keep going!"

She cocked it and pulled the gun up to look through the sight. Her heart was pounding and the Indominus had continued its pursuit of them. She had one shot. If she hesitated she would be dead. Just as the I-Rex opened its mouth to roar again, bringing it down low enough to be able to scoop her up with it, Skye fired. She was prepared for the recoil, so it didn't faze her, and she quickly raced in the opposite direction for the security tower.

There next roar that ripped through the air from the dinosaurs throat was new, one that they hadn't yet heard. It was one of pain, and if either of them had been paying attention and not running, they would have noticed the Indominus's right eye was bleeding and almost swollen shut. She was enraged. More so than before, and she didn't stop her charge, her body slamming into the fence, shattering the concrete and snapping the long, thick, electric wires that held it together. The initial shock of the impact and of the electricity caused the large white monster to whip around, its tail crashing through the top of the guard tower, causing it to topple down onto the ground with the rest of the rubble. The indominus continued her frenzy down into the valley, having spotted more heat signatures below.

Skye had fallen into the mud below some brush with the dinosaur had crashed through the fence, trying to cover herself and shield herself from any of the falling debris. She could still hear the creature roar as it raced into the enclosure, now closer to the park than ever, but she managed to pull herself up shakily and grab the rifle from the bush. The guard tower was a mess, and she only hoped that the scientist had made it inside and hadn't been hurt in the process.

"Simmons?!"

Jemma's ears were still ringing, the roar and the sound of concrete crashing to pieces was still echoing in her head. She had come just shy of making it into the tower, but the shot had fired just too soon and she had to dive to the ground, scraping her knee against a large rock and throwing her hands over her head to protect herself from debris as the massive dinosaur crashed through the fence, taking the top three floors of the security tower in front of her with it. She was initially worried that her blood would make the predator come back, but apparently it was more tempted by the herbivores living in the plains.

When she finally dared to move, rubble fell from her back and shoulders and she coughed, expelling dust and dirt from her lungs. The tail of the dinosaur had knocked the upper walls off the building, and looking around, Jemma realized just how lucky she was that one of them hadn't crushed her.

"I'm all right!" She called out between ragged coughs, her eyes finally landing on the previously gasoline scented and now muddy woman further out towards the trees, making her way towards what was left of the security tower. It had lost the top half, but it would still be sufficient enough as a temporary hiding place. Jemma thought they were both lucky to be alive, especially Skye, after narrowly avoiding the creature's jaws twice now already.

Jemma managed to compose herself by the time Skye made it over, balancing enough to remove her hand from the wall of the building. That was how close she had been before even more chaos had erupted, but she quickly found out she wouldn't have been able to get in anyway. The ID card that hung around her neck did nothing when she swiped it across the panel, but it wasn't a shock that the power was down, with the Indominus rex destroying the entire electric fence and half the building.

"We're going to have to break in..." Jemma looked around her for an object fit for the job. A bent sheet of metal and a fist sized rock would do the job. She used the rock to wedge the metallic object between the door and the handle. "With just the right leverage..." Jemma muttered quietly before banging the rock down on the end of the metal opposite the side sticking into the crack. The handle popped off, leaving an open circle where Jemma quickly and efficiently turned the deadbolt, successfully unlocking the door. When she turned around, Skye had a completely flabbergasted look on her face that made Jemma smirk.

"Fitz designed the lock systems with a break-in-case-of-emergency type trick." She grinned and explained, pushing the door open and stepping inside. The interior didn't look too damaged, at least not on the lower floors, except for a large crack in one wall. "We can't lock it again, but that wouldn't do a lot of good if Indominus came back anyway."

"Glad to know that science brain of yours does actually contain some survival information," Skye's comment was a teasing one, like all of her others before, but this time she was smiling in a different way. She was admiring the doctor's work on the door. She was relieved that both of their quick thinking had saved them, yet again, from the eight ton man eating machine. She was just glad that her lucky shot had actually been quite lucky and Simmons's new mildly vandalistic attitude was going to come in handy if they ran into any more obsolete power grids.

Seeing the doctor acting like a fully functioning human being outside the lab with actual useful skills was a nice change. A nice change indeed, so nice in fact, that Skye swallowed hard when she gave the woman a once over. They were both dirty to the core, having run through the jungle and now covered in mud and dust and herself still in gasoline. Sure running from a dinosaur like that wasn't normal, but Skye was used to being dirty and something about the pristine scientist from the lab being down on her level was…intriguing. Attractive even. Underneath all that science and intellect was an actual person.

"Nice work, Simmons. We can hide out in here for a few minutes, find some supplies that could help us. We probably shouldn't wait too long though. We should sneak away while the Indominus is occupied outside with all of the herbivores. We need to somehow alert every one of her location," Skye had already moved past the girl deeper into the tower and over to a series of computer screens, but no matter what buttons she pushed none of them came on. The entire system was down, thanks to the Indominus.

"Find a bag or something to carry stuff in. Check that closet over there. The security tower should have weapons and an emergency kit. At least the ones on Isla Sorna do. I'm just assuming the standard is the same all around," Skye said, picking up the wall phone and listening for it, but the line was dead. Everything was gone. "Will your tablet get a signal now that we are closer?"

Jemma frowned for a moment, simply surprised Skye was actually complimenting her. All she'd done since they met was tease her or argue with her, so it was a welcome change. She had a feeling, however, that it wasn't going to last long, because she realized she no longer had the tablet on her. She cautiously slunk back outside and picked up the black piece of technology before coming back. The screen was shattered, and what little hope she had of contacting the control room died when she pressed the power button and the screen remained dark. She held it up for Skye to see and didn't miss the obvious look of disappointment on her face.

"I lost the phone too, it fell out of my hand back at the road." She sighed. "The only tech I have left is this radio, but the only people who used them were maintenance and I doubt anyone is on the channels right now, the control room is obviously busy on other communication lines." Jemma tossed Skye the walkie-talkie in case she wanted to try getting in touch with someone, but she doubted they could. Instead, she did as Skye asked before and rummaged around in the closet. Nothing useful was there, only the standard neon vests and hard hats, but wearing those objects would only bring attention to themselves, which was the exact opposite of what they wanted to do. If Skye was right and the kind of supplies they needed were here, there was still a chance they would be in the supply room on the second floor.

The stairs seemed stable enough, so Jemma made her way up without fear. The ceiling also looked undamaged, but she had no way of knowing what the building looked like just above it, so she decided on a quick in and out mission. The closet was on the opposite side of the room from the staircase, and Jemma swiftly made her way over to it, keeping an eye on the grey walls and roof above her as she did. when Jemma opened the door, she was relieved to have finally found what they really needed. The medical kit was even in a blue backpack with a cross in the center, they would be able to carry more supplies in it and keep their hands free.

There would be time to take inventory of the medical supplies later, but for now Jemma shoved two of the ICERs, which were simple stunning guns that wouldn't do much good on anything bigger than themselves, into the medical bag and zipped it up again, throwing it over one shoulder as she searched for anything else. There were a few pathetic snack bars that were probably gross and meant for emergency lockdowns, and she stuffed them into her bag as well.

When she determined that nothing else was useful enough to bring along, Jemma stood up and made her way back towards the stairs, but she didn't get very far before she heard a cracking sound, and she made a run for it. Rubble from the concrete above was crashing down all around her, and it didn't take long for her to fall to the ground with a small shriek. She was lucky she was wearing the backpack, as it took some of the impact off as a moderately heavy support beam fell across her back. It still hurt and she cried out, though she didn't think it was enough to truly injure her.

Jemma covered her head with her arms and waited for the collapse to be over, and when it was she could see the sky up above her instead of the ceiling. It only took a second of wiggling for Jemma to realize she was stuck, and at the angle her body was pinned, she couldn't reach behind her to shove away the beam.

Skye pulled her own phone from her back pocket, but she doubted it was going to work. Everything seemed to be intact, but she had absolutely no signal. With the guard tower's power system down there was nothing to boost it. As far as technology was concerned, they were still in the heart of the wilderness and with the lines probably already flooded with other calls from the control room, the raptor handler doubted she would get through anyway. She shoved the temporarily useless device back into her pocket and pulled out the walkie the scientist had just handed her before going upstairs.

Skye was switching through all the channels on the radio, repeated the typical distress signal of their names and location and if anyone was picking up, but all that came back was static. It made her angry, and she was frustrated. They were on their own until they made it to another fully functioning tower, or to the monorail station. They wouldn't be able to sneak through the open plains to get there now though, thanks to the Indominus roaming around. She could only imagine what sort of havoc she was wrecking over the dinosaurs in the valley.

There wasn't much time to ponder because the shriek from upstairs sent her into panic mode. "Simmons?!" Skye had already dropped the radio and was running up the stairs, two at a time, while taking the gun back off her shoulder and cocking it. She pointed it out into the room, which was still cloudy from the dust of the roof collapse, wondering if maybe the I-Rex had returned for vengeance. She coughed some, but when the dust finally cleared the room was empty, a big pile of rubble on the floor.

"Simmons, are you okay?" The brunette quickly tossed the gun down, and spying the smaller girl under the debris and support beam, rushed over to her, pulling some of the larger chunks of concrete out of the way.

"Hold on…" Fear had been very evident on her face, and some still remained as the dinosaur handler positioned her shoulder just under the beam, holding onto it securely with her hands before pushing it up. "Okay…go. Crawl out…" She was gritting her teeth, the beam was heavy, but she had managed to hoist it high enough for the girl to be able to get free. When at last the scientist had gotten loose, Skye dropped the beam and righted herself, quickly stumbling over some of the other rubble to get to the doctor. Skye's hands were on her, pulling at her hands to stretch her arms out, checking over them and giving her a once over, face riddled with concern.

"Are you hurt? Are you alright? What happened?"

As Skye pulled Jemma up to her feet, Jemma's mumbled explanation was incomprehensible, though she got enough words through for Skye to get the point. It wasn't that hard to draw a conclusion anyway, it was obvious that the damaged ceiling had collapsed on its own because of the rubble everywhere and the absence of a recognizable white dinosaur.

"I'm okay." Jemma inhaled sharply. She tried to catch her breath and let her heart rate go back to normal. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen when Skye's hands were still grasping hers lightly, a concerned look in her eye. Jemma fell silent and just stared at her, feeling that same awestruck sentiment that she had when Skye used to come to the lab and smile at all the baby dinosaurs before they started arguing with each other nonstop.

The silence was interrupted only a few seconds later when one last piece of concrete broke loose from the edges of the remaining chunk of ceiling and crashed to the ground. Jemma shrieked again and flinched, not realizing until she'd calmed down again that she was clutching the material of Skye's shirt at her shoulders and pressing her body against her. The brunette smelled strongly of gasoline and was covered in grime, Jemma was as well, but she still found herself comforted by the closeness between them. Her cheeks flushed when she made this realization and instead of pulling away, she just held still and searched Skye's face for a reaction. She wouldn't admit it, but she was seeking comfort because she was still terrified by this entire situation, and it just felt right to request it from Skye.

The relief on the raptor handler's face was blatant and it made her smile to know that the scientist hadn't been hurt. How silly would it have been for them to have gotten away from the Indominus twice, only to have them get hurt once they were both safe. When the other piece of ceiling fell though, Skye's hands tightened around the smaller girl's hands and took a couple steps back, bringing her with her to keep her still from being hurt.

The situation had wound them up, pressed together and Skye wasn't at all sure what to do about it. The logical part of her brain realized she should probably take a step back, but the other part of her brain didn't let her move. At least not yet. She busied herself by looking past Simmons and to the rubble, almost as if checking to make sure that nothing else was going to fall, before her eyes finally landed back on Simmons.

The way she was staring didn't make Skye uncomfortable, but she still wasn't sure how to handle it. She swallowed hard before gently pushing the other girl away, allowing herself to back up and get some personal space back. "I'm glad you're okay…" She breathed lightly and turned around, just now noticing how fast her heart was beating. She had really been scared something had happened to the doctor and was glad now that she was alright.

"So, uhm…" Skye had to clear her throat and brush the dust off of herself before finally being composed enough to continue. Was she flustered? "Did you find any supplies? We should…we should probably head out soon. Check to see if Indominus is gone so we can get you to the control room. There's only a few hours left of good quality daylight and I don't want to be wandering around in the dark with your dragon that has thermal vision still out and about."

Jemma couldn't say she wasn't disappointed when Skye pulled away, but she could hardly blame her. They were strangers, and even in this severely unusual situation, it was still awkward. It was clear just by the way Skye's usual sensibility was gone that she was just as flustered as Jemma. Skye seemed to have a lot of logic most of the time, but here she was asking a question about whether or not she'd gotten supplies when there was still clearly a backpack hanging from her shoulder.

"Yes, um, medical supplies, a little bit of food, and two ICERs that I sincerely doubt will actually do us any good." Jemma answered her anyway as Skye retrieved her rifle and they made their way back down the steps to the only safe floor left in the tower. She knew they would have to leave soon, ideally at this very moment, but Jemma was still nervous, and it was expressed very clearly in the way Jemma's body tensed up as they neared the door. The Indominus rex could be anywhere, and if they happened to stumble upon it again they probably wouldn't have the advantage of the electrical fence and Skye's lucky shot.

"Excellent, it will have to do," Skye nodded, smiling at the girl's efforts, very glad that they seemed to have found at least a few useful things. Her praising didn't seem to do much though because when she turned to look back at the scientist from the doorway she could tell how scared she was. Honestly, Skye was still scared too, but the raptor trainer knew that if they didn't keep moving then nothing was going to get done.

"I know it's dangerous, but we've made it this far. And hey, you've got me," Skye winked, trying to cheer the girl up, "I work with these dinosaurs all the time. You're in good hands. Maybe we will get lucky and the I-Rex is busying itself with a triceratops or something. Hopefully the trike shows it what for," She nodded towards the door and slowly heaved it open, careful to look around before fully stepping out.

"It looks clear, but let's be quiet just in case. We can follow the fence line down the cover. I don't want to take a chance and walk in the open valley. We should head for the monorail. There may be some service vehicles there we can use to get you to the control room," Skye said and held the door open fully then, holding her hand out to help Simmons to step over some of the rubble and into the grass.

Jemma took Skye's hand gratefully and used it to get over the pile of concrete on the ground, but she quickly let go and looked back down at her feet once she didn't need any more help. She nodded to thank Skye and agree with her plan instead of speaking, wanting very much not to draw attention to themselves in any way. The only sound that could be heard as they made their way up a small hill along the fence was the grass rustling around their feet with each step.

The silence was broken, however, when they reached the top. Jemma gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, gazing out over the open valley. What looked like an entire herd of stegosauruses were slaughtered and lying dead, though there were no signs that the Indominus rex had tried to eat them.

"She's killing for sport." Jemma whispered quietly, in horror. If the predator wasn't even taking the time to eat its prey, it would spend less time on each kill and it wouldn't stop when it was full. It would just keep hunting and killing and repeating the process until nothing was left living on the island.

Skye was stunned. Even she could hardly take in the sight before her. She worked with velociraptors and tyrannosauruses and the small handful of other carnivores they had on Isla Sorna but none of them, _none of them_ , had ever killed this way. They always hunted and then they fed. That was the way of things. That was how nature worked. The only other creature the brunette could think of that hunted for sport was humans. Either the Indominus was human smart and just particularly cruel, or, she didn't have the hunting instinct. Her DNA was amped up on predatory instincts but was lacking those that told her she should eat. She had never hunted to feed before. She had always ever been fed by that hook. She didn't know she was supposed to eat them. All she knew was she was supposed to kill them.  
"C'mon, lets go..."

A quick tug on her sleeve signaled Jemma that they needed to keep going, and she obliged, glad to have a reason to take her eyes off the gory carnage below.

It didn't take long for the two women to reach the cover of the trees, and Jemma was relieved by what little safety it provided. If the I-Rex ended up coming back, they had the obstacle-ridden playing field to their advantage.

Jemma kept close to Skye at all times, rarely more than two paces behind her, but she jumped a little and caught up completely when she heard a rustling sound. It wasn't nearly loud enough to be what she was constantly afraid of, but it was still enough to concern her.

"Did you hear that? I think something's still alive out there." Jemma said quietly. The area was still eerily silent in the wake of the escaped dinosaur's attack, so it was easy to pick out the pained cries of another creature not too far to the left.

The dinosaur handler stopped, putting a hand out in front of the doctor's chest to keep her from going any further as well. She used her other hand to put a finger to her own mouth, signaling for silence. She knew was very familiar with the sound of an animal in distress. The raptors didn't always kill their prey right away, sometimes taking things slow, playing with their food. It was cruel maybe, but it was entertainment. They were intelligent creatures and it was in their nature. The Indominus just seemed to be doing it on a grander scale.

Skye pulled the rifle back into action and held it fast with one hand while motioning for the smaller scientist to keep up at a slow pace. As they rounded the bushes, the brunette gasped and lowered her weapon. The Indominus had clearly come this way because before the two women lay a triceratops, struggling to stand and crying out due to the injuries it had sustained.

"Oh my god…" Skye put the rifle away back over her shoulder and took a few steps closer to examine the animal. She had claw marks over her body, deep gouges and gashes from her battle with the I-Rex. Skye was even surprised to see puncture wounds in the frill. She wasn't a herbivore expert, but she did know that the triceratops's mighty frill was made of solid bone, and for the Indominus to have bitten straight through it took a bite per pound that the brunette didn't even want to imagine. One of her horns had been broken off and with any luck, Skye hoped it was lodged somewhere in the I-Rex. They could all use any advantage at this point.

As Skye got closer to examine it, the trike grew louder in its distress. The trainer took this as a good sign to stop and now she kept her distance. "She's heading towards the aviary. I would imagine right now that's the closest group of dinosaurs in one place that she can sense…if she can really see thermal that is. The next largest after that would be…the park," She breathed the last word in fright. Neither of them had any idea where the control room stood on trying to take her down.

If Ward and Hydra Co. had commissioned her, then Skye figured they were probably the ones who had given the order for the ICER ammunition instead of live rounds. They didn't want their million dollar project to be put down, even after seeing what it was capable of. Everyone at the park was in danger because of their greediness and lack of insight.

Deep in her thoughts, Skye had not noticed the calls of the wounded beast lure another, and a loud cry startled her to turn around. Another, less injured triceratops had come around behind them from where they had come, probably drawn to the dying sounds of its brethren.

"Uh oh…" The brunette pivoted fast, turning to face the creature, who was digging its front feet into the ground, snorting loudly and thrusting its horns out in a display of dominance. She had listened to Trip mention once or twice that triceratops were very territorial and that two would often fight each other for land, so she was well aware of what this display was. She also knew that she and the scientist would be no match. There was no way the two of them could make a bigger display than this.

The brunette absentmindedly grabbed for Simmons' hand again, holding it tightly and motioning for her to take slow steps back.

"We should just back away," She whispered, "She's challenging us and if she sees us submit she may leave us alone. We just can't run…she'll charge if we run…" She had been half right at least. The triceratops took more steps towards them as they backed away, doing its own version of a roar and tossing its horns around in a threatening manner. They were progressing fine, until the more injured triceratops released another pained cry before laying completely still. The healthier triceratops somehow made the conclusion that it's herd member had died and the only strange predators present were the two women. It thrust its horns out and bellowed loudly, pawing at the ground again before bracing it's hind legs to charge.

"Nevermind, _run_!" Skye shouted and turned around quickly, pulling the doctor with her and began to run deeper into the trees as an angry triceratops charged after them.

"It never ends, does it?!" Jemma shouted ahead of her, trying her best to keep up with Skye. She didn't get a response, probably because Jemma was probably right, the danger and the running probably wouldn't end until the park was back in order and the I-Rex was somehow subdued.

Sure, the roar of the Triceratops scared Jemma, but what made her even more terrified was the sound of rushing water ahead. It needed to stop. That dinosaur needed to stop chasing them before they reached whatever was making that noise. Jemma tried to get Skye to change directions, but she only pulled Jemma onwards, knowing that changing the way they were running would get them caught.

They broke away from the trees into a clearing, and Jemma was horrified to see a small river dropping off into a waterfall. She did not like the way they were still running towards it like it was somehow the solution to all of this, but Skye didn't seem to notice.

The river was their ticket out. The trike wasn't going to jump off the cliff into the water after them, and so the raptor trainer kept pulling the scientist after her. She could hear the dinosaur catching up and at this rate it was going to gore the both of them if she didn't slow it down.

"Go! Keep going, we have to jump!" Skye shouted and used her arm to sling the small girl behind her a little ahead. At least one of them should escape should things go more awry than they already had.

She didn't stop to see if Simmons had listened to her. Instead, she was already pulling her rifle back over her shoulder, cocking it as she skidded to a halt and took aim. The triceratops had just burst through the trees and was throwing her head this way and that and was gaining on the two in the open ground quickly.

Skye shot, and cocked it again, pulling the trigger a second time, but both shots to the animal's leg only staggered it for half a second before it powered through. Mission failed.

"Shit!"

Jemma knew the second Skye shoved her ahead that she was going to try the same strategy she had with the Indominus rex less than an hour ago, and she continued running towards the waterfall, but only because her survival instincts were telling her to. Once she got to the edge, however, she skidded to a halt and looked down into the swirling water with terror.

She heard Skye's exclamation and spun around. Apparently her plan hadn't worked a second time, as Skye was now running towards her with the Triceratops on her tail, even closer than ever. Jemma did not like the look in Skye's eye and she glanced behind her at the water once more before looking back to Skye. She was expecting her to jump.

"Simmons, _jump_!" Skye shouted. It was definitely an order. If the girl didn't jump she was going to get impaled with five tons of triceratops and that wasn't going to be a very good day for either of them. As she raced closer, she realized that the doctor wasn't going to jump. She would rather take on a triceratops than jump thirty feet into a large pool of water. The water wouldn't kill her. The trike would. The scientist had some messed up preferences.

"Jump, jump, jump!" The brunette was even pointed, very fervently, as she ran, for the girl to do as she said, but she didn't. The charging dinosaur was right on them, and Skye was amazing that it hadn't caught her already. There was only one option. She wasn't going to stop running.

"I can't, Skye! I can't sw-" Jemma tried to yell, tried to explain why she just couldn't force herself into the water below, but she was cut off before she had the chance to finish.

The dinosaur expert braced herself and forced her legs to go just a little bit faster. No time to stop. Skye crashed into the scientist as something sharp ripped through her vest and shirt, straight into her flesh. The sudden pain made her cry out, but it could have been the fall, and she instinctively wrapped her arms tight around the scientist as she tackled her over the edge of the cliff. The two splashed into the cold pool of swirling water below as the angry triceratops gave a roar from above, slinging its bloodied horns around and digging into the dirt in triumph.


	4. Spooning

"Uh, we have a problem." Fitz said into the phone, his eyes glued to the main screen of the control room. The ACU unit that had gone after the Indominus rex seemed to be having trouble. The video feed showed a still fresh piece of flesh with the tracker in it, and Fitz's eyes widened in disbelief. The dinosaur was apparently smarter than any of them had anticipated, and now they had no way to tell where it was located. It wasn't long before one of the spiked heart rate lines monitoring the soldiers flatlined. Skye had definitely been right, they should have been using lethal weapons to put the dinosaur down. If only Coulson and Ward had listened to her. Everyone in the control room, which included Coulson, Ward, Bobbi, Trip, and Fitz, as well as several other employees, watched in horrified and stunned silence as the beeping continued until almost every last member of the ACU unit was dead.

"She clawed out her tracker!" Fitz yelled into the phone, suddenly remembering how his best friend and his friend's best friend were still out there, possibly even close to the Indominus rex. "It's killing everyone, and it's going to look for something else when it's done. You need to get back to that viewing chamber! Simmons, now!" Fitz begged her to run, but he wasn't sure they'd be safe even if they did try to make it back to the viewing chamber.

Everyone's eyes were on Fitz now, wondering what was going on, especially Trip. He was staring in concern, he had been made aware that it was Skye and Jemma on the phone and he was clearly worried, as he should be. Fitz heard Skye and Jemma having a side conversation, but he couldn't figure out what they were saying, the words were too fuzzy from the lack of signal on their end. What he could make out was a roar. A very loud, familiar roar that had been coming from the communications from the ACU unit a moment ago and were now coming from the phone.

"Simmons? _Simmons_?!" Fitz was shaking now. Jemma wasn't responding and all he could hear was the roaring and the vibrating with each of the I-Rex's footfalls.

"Dude, what's happening?" Trip was leaning over the shorter scientist in a second, his hands on the back of his chair and trying to hear what was going on over the phone. With Fitz screaming he could discern that something had obviously gone very very wrong.

"Skye works with raptors. She's resourceful. She's handled carnivores before, just like I have. She'll get them out of there, Fitz," Bobbi was trying to soothe over what was apparently very bad news on the other end of the line, but she herself wasn't sure she believed it. As they had seen, the Indominus was quite a force to be reckoned with and none of the group of friends liked to think that either woman had been harmed. The I-Rex was smarter than any of them could have guessed, and probably even imagined. It had lured Skye into a trap to get them all to open the doors for her so she could escape. She had clawed out her tracker to lure the ACU unit to one place so she could ambush them. They were dealing with an intelligence level higher than that of the raptors.

Everyone in the room seemed to be hesitant to talk about sending another unit after her, especially when Ward kept insisting that they use the ICERs and not actual bullets. It made Bobbi sick to her stomach, and Trip too. Both had fervently advocated for live ammunition, per Skye's suggestion, only to have everyone turned down. Look where that got them.

Honestly, Fitz hadn't really listened to a word Bobbi had said. He was in shock. The other end of the line had gone silent, only an occasional rumble could be heard before the sound disappeared entirely. Slowly, he pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen for a few seconds before finally tapping the red bar and hanging up. Fitz turned in his chair to look up at Trip, not ashamed to have tears in his eyes. He may never see his best friend again, she could have just experienced a terrible death.

"The entire ACU unit couldn't stop it, and Skye and Simmons were alone. They weren't even armed as far as I'm aware." Fitz was choked up, but he tried to maintain a calm facade so they could get the situation under control. He could let himself grieve later, but now they had to stop the Indominus rex and prevent more people from ending up like his friend. Fitz looked down at the large control panel that was his temporary desk here, and he pulled up a map. He'd managed to ping Jemma's phone and its last location was shown on the virtual map, along with the last location of the I-Rex's tracker. Fitz connected the two dots with a line and determined which direction the dinosaur was moving in, and he was definitely not pleased with the results.

"It's getting closer to the park, headed towards the plains in the gyrosphere area. I can check the security feeds from the towers and see if I can find it." Fitz was already back to work, ignoring the sympathetic look on Bobbi's face when she put a hand on his shoulder.

Fitz turned to Coulson and Ward, who were still standing in the back of the room, an obvious look of anger on his face. If they had just used live ammunition and killed the beast, then Jemma would still be alive.

"If I do find it, a chopper needs to be sent to _put it down._ " He said sternly. Trip and Bobbi had no hesitation in backing him up, now that two of their own friends had been killed by the mistake.

"Coulson, your team is clearly emotionally affected at this time and I think it would be much wiser if some of my own-" Ward began, but he was quickly cut off.

"It's Simmons and Skye!" Fitz shouted, jumping to his feet and putting the security feed he was on up onto the main screen in the room. Sure enough, it was a high up view from a camera on the tower that showed Skye and Jemma hand in hand, sprinting closer to the fence. Fitz had been so hopeful, so sure that Jemma was alright until he caught sight of their new white scaled friend still after them. Everyone watched with bated breath as the scene unfolded, Skye shoving Jemma ahead and stopping to take a shot at Indominus. They only saw a few seconds more where both Jemma and Skye dropped to the ground before the enraged dinosaur slammed into the building. It began to collapse, and Fitz had one last view of his lab partner on the ground beneath the building as the camera topped downwards towards her along with parts of the tower before it finally cut off and the feed went to static.

Everyone in the room was silent. The group of friends felt like they were on one hell of an emotional roller coaster. First Trip had thought that Skye was dead, along with Simmons, and suddenly he had just been shown otherwise. But now the camera feed was out again any other number of things could be happening to them.

It was Bobbi who spoke up first, "Fitz, can you rewind that?"

Trip wasn't sure what she was asking for but as he looked at the screen as the engineer rewound the footage and played it back again. Bobbi was reaching over Fitz's shoulder and hit a button, slowing the footage down to half speed when she pointed at the screen.

"Skye shot it. She hit it, _there_ , just before it runs into the fence and hits the tower," She turned to look back at Trip, whose mouth was hanging a little open, before she turned back to look down at Fitz. "The Indominus is injured and it's heading into the sauropod valley. Can you pull up the nearest security towers to that location? Maybe we can get another visual," The blonde suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Trip backed up Bobbi's suggestion and crossed his arms, putting one hand on his chin as he sighed, trying to think. His insides were tense with worry but they had to keep on top of the situation. That's what Skye would have suggested.

"If the I-Rex went through the fence and into the valley that probably means that Skye and Simmons got away. If they can survive the Indominus then they can certainly pull through the tower falling down. My girl's got survival skills…and they're still trying to head here right, Fitz? That's what you said earlier. We need to send someone out after them, and send something to stop the Indominus," Trip squeezed Fitz's shoulder and turned back to Bobbi, nodding towards Coulson and Ward, who were now back to their heated discussion. "It's already too close to the park…"

"You're right. They need to start evacuations. I can't believe they haven't already. It's been hours and the only precaution taken was shutting down everything north of the Innovation Center. We need to get the guests off the island," Bobbi confirmed.

"All right people, listen up." Ward's voice suddenly interrupted all the chattering and plan making from the top of the steps in the back of the room. "Coulson has gone to run evacuations, and I'll be taking over here. Those of you who wish to stay can, but the rest of you are excused, my men will be taking over from here." As if it was timed perfectly, several uniformed men with the Hydra Co. logo on their chests entered the room and began to take the seats of the other panicked employees who wanted to get off the island with the park visitors. Fitz, Trip, and Bobbi stayed. Fitz gave Ward and expectant look, as if he was asking if they needed to explain their plan again.

"I will send a small team after your friends, and a chopper after the Indominus, if you three can locate it." Ward assured them, though he was lying. The scientist that was currently out in the wilderness was an important asset and a terrible loss, but she was probably already dead and he could eventually find another geneticist brilliant enough to work on the dinosaur DNA. There would be no team out looking for them, all his manpower was going to be put towards capturing the Indominus rex. It didn't matter what he told Coulson's three remaining employees, as long as he could convince them to find the dinosaur for him so he could regain control over it.

* * *

"W-what sort…of childhood…d-did you have that…you didn't fucking…l-learn to swim?!" Soaking wet, Skye heaved the drenched scientist up into the shallow waters towards the shore. After having swirled around underwater for what seemed like forever, she had finally managed to come up for air, only to have the shorter girl grab onto her and push her back under on accident. She had had to carry the both of them to the shallow waters and now that she had, the brunette realized she was out of breath. The cold, murky water was stinging the wound in her side and it still bled, leaving a small little red trail in the water as she waded her way to the sand.

She helped pull the scientist the rest of the way onto the shore before she collapsed herself, sitting down in the sand and mud, trying to catch her breath. "W-we need to keep moving…" She breathed after a moment and moved to get up again, but when she did, she winced and hissed, sucking air in through her teeth. The triceratops had grazed her with one of its horns, but even a graze could still be a serious problem. A problem they didn't have time to deal with.

Skye managed to stand up, the right side of her shirt ripped and stained red, which she tried to hide with her hand as she scooped up the backpack that had previously been on Simmons' back. "It's only a couple hours till d-dark. We need to find shelter. There will be no running from the I-Rex a-at night…" She nodded for the doctor to get up, to follow her back into the woods.

Jemma coughed and emptied her lungs of the last bit of water that had gotten into them when she and Skye had crashed into the water. They were both hopelessly muddy now, soaked to the bone and sputtering about. When Jemma finally managed to shake off her denial about the whole situation having happened, she looked at Skye close enough to realize she was in pain, and her eyes quickly found the source, despite the woman's attempt to hide it.

"Skye, wait." Jemma pulled herself to her feet and grabbed both the blue backpack and the upper half of Skye's arm. "You're bleeding, we're not going anywhere until you let me take a look." She was finally being stern, it was the first time since this whole chaotic mess had started that Jemma was the one with the expertise in the subject. "Sit down." She ordered, already unzipping the bag and hoping everything hadn't been ruined by the water.

"Stop that," Skye pulled her arm out of the girl's insistent grasp and shook her head, letting Simmons take the bag. "We don't have time for this, we need to go," the stubborn brunette motioned towards the woods with her hand, the action making her side stretch and her face scrunch up as the nerves in her side lit on fire. She grit her teeth again and put on an insistent face instead of a pained one.

"Indominus could be anywhere. We are out in the open and we can't stay here. Let's go. I'll be fine, I've had worse. I work with raptors remember?"

Jemma's face quickly turned from one of concern to one of annoyance when Skye continued to be bull-headed, though she would still be worried until she made sure the other woman was alright.

"Your experience with raptors won't stop your bleeding, and we won't make it anywhere if you bleed out or get infected." Jemma said sternly. "Sit down and be quiet." After a little more insisting, Skye finally gave in and did as Jemma said, lowering herself to the ground. Jemma followed, kneeling next to her and digging through the blue bag. Thankfully, the medical supplies had been in a white plastic box and were undamaged by the water, though she wasn't sure if she could say the same for the ICERs.

Carefully, Jemma peeled away Skye's shirt and lifted the hem, moving the other woman's hand for her to hold the material up and away from the wound so that Jemma would have a good view and both hands available. She was relieved to see that the Triceratops horn hadn't gone too deeply and didn't puncture any of Skye's organs.

"You're lucky, this is only flesh wound, it should heal fairly quickly." Jemma informed her as she dug around in the white box, fishing out materials she would need. There was a good amount of bandage and plenty of disinfectant and pain relieving gel, which was exactly what she needed. "Hold still, this will sting." Jemma didn't sugarcoat it, she knew Skye wasn't the type of person who needed it. Slowly, she poured the alcohol on the skin above the wound so it would run down into it and keep it from getting infected. She ignored the flinch and the hissing noise Skye made and continued her work.

Ever so gently, Jemma applied the clear gel to Skye's skin and spread it with two fingers until it covered the whole wound and a little of the skin around it. Her hand lingered on Skye's torso for just a moment longer before she awkwardly pulled away and reached for the gauze, cutting out a large square of it with tiny medical scissors and taping it in place. Her thumb glided over the tape one last time to make sure it was secure before she removed her hands and put everything away, keeping her eyes on the ground and avoiding looking into Skye's eyes. She'd definitely touched her a little more than necessary, and she just hoped Skye hadn't noticed.

Skye would be lying to herself if she said she didn't appreciate Simmons stopping her and making her sit down to be healed. The alcohol stung, but the gel the doctor applied afterwards helped to cool the wound some and lessen the sting. The other woman's fingers were hot against her skin and the brunette forced herself to look anywhere but at the little scientist and her work on her torso. The assertive, I-know-better-than-you Simmons was something to experience and the raptor trainer found she rather liked how spunky the girl could be when she wanted. Just like when she had taken the rock and the metal and broken the door to the tower to get them inside.

It was curious to her, and sudden and a little startling to realize that she quite missed the girl's warm touch when it was gone from her. She wasn't sure why. Perhaps it had just been because the water was so cold and having her cut looked at was really a better idea than waltzing into the forest all bloody to attract more dinosaurs to them. Skye didn't even know she was blushing until she felt her cheeks burning once Simmons had already pulled away. She brought her eyes down to the bandage to look at the doctor's work and she smiled, hoping that her red face would just appear like she was heating back up from the chill of the water.

"Good uhm…good work, thanks," The brunette bit her lip before turning away and pulling her shirt back down. She stood abruptly and brushed herself off. It still hurt her slightly to move, but she knew that with the bandage on she would be fine for a while until it needed to be replaced. "We should get going now, Simmons. Before it gets dark…" She held her hand out to help the girl to a standing position, noticing for the first time as she thought back over the past few hours of events that the scientist had continually called her 'Skye' and she hadn't even noticed.

The girl knew her well enough to call her by her first name. She hadn't even had to ask it, and here they were running from dinosaurs and saving each other's lives over and over again and Skye didn't even know her name. "So uhm…Simmons, do you have a first name? I think maybe having almost died like three times warrants first name basis, if that's alright with you."

When Jemma finally looked up at Skye again, she smiled brightly. The fact that Skye was finally asking for her name meant that now she was more to her than the "lab techie" that handed her dinosaurs. She would definitely hope what they had been through so far was enough to cause that, and she was glad it had.

"Jemma. My name is Jemma." She smiled, holding onto Skye's hand and jokingly shaking it like they were meeting for the first time as she stood up. Jemma zipped up the bag and slung it over her shoulder again in preparation to keep moving. It wasn't until that moment that Jemma realized Skye was looking at her strangely, not in a bad way, but in a different way than she had before. It was similar to the way Skye had looked at her after digging her out of the pile of rubble, but now she noticed the slight red tint on her cheeks. This was how Jemma imagined she looked when she talked to Skye, so it was a little strange to see the expression on the other woman.

"We're losing daylight." Jemma pointed out with a small smile, knowing Skye had been eager to keep going before. When she started walking, she realized her hand was still connected to Skye's, and she pulled away awkwardly, walking slightly ahead of Skye so she wouldn't see the flushed look on her face again.

Skye made sure that the rifle was secure over her shoulder. It would probably need to dry out before it would function properly again and she only hoped that she didn't need to do any shooting between now and trying to find some shelter. They were getting a lot of cardio in today and as they walked along in the woods in silence, the brunette realized that she hadn't eaten in a very long time. Not since lunch and it was probably close to dinner by now, if not later. The sun had already disappeared behind the trees, lighting up the sky with a lovely evening light. Their adventure had taken quite a while…honestly Skye had hoped to be at the control room by now but several things in her plan to get them there had gone wrong.

It wasn't until her stomach growled at she sighed and decided to break the awkward silence which had been growing since the girl let go of her hand. "So…Jemma, you still got those power bars in your backpack? We could probably use a snack. I don't know when you ate last but it was before I came on the ferry to come check out the paddock after the worker accident for me," She asked, trying to be casual, although she realized she must sound silly. Taking a stroll in the woods like it was sixty-five million years ago while trying to keep an eye out for a genetically modified dinosaur wasn't exactly casual.

The brunette decided to pull her phone out of her back pocket, truly surprised to still find it there, and she tried to turn it on. The thing was soaked to the core and she sighed, shoving it back into her side pocket after pressing the power button twenty times with no result. It was probably close to six o'clock. They still had a couple hours to find shelter before it would grow too dark for Skye to be comfortable being out and about with a monster on the loose.

Jemma pulled the pack more onto her side while it was hanging on one shoulder so she could access it while they continued to walk, and she dug out two of the little packages that were thankfully more of a foil type material than paper, so they were hopefully unaffected by the water.

"I don't know how good these will be, but I guess it's better than nothing." Jemma joked, handing one to Skye and tearing open the one she kept for herself. She was hungry, her stomach was growling actually, but she hadn't even had time to notice and she was glad Skye brought it up. She slowed down a bit so she was walking next to Skye instead of in front or behind her for once as she took a bite. It was bitter, and Jemma made a face, but she kept eating it anyway because she knew she would need some kind of protein to give her the energy to survive the endeavor. She needed a distraction from the awful taste, so she turned to Skye.

"What made you want to work here?" She asked suddenly. It really was something she was wondering about her, especially now that she knew just how dangerous the animals Skye worked with really were. She had her own reasons for wanting to come to the Jurassic World labs, but she wondered what it was that made Skye's work enjoyable for her. "With man-eating dinosaurs." Jemma added with a grin.

Skye thanked her when she handed over the bar and she unwrapped it, smelling it first. Her nose scrunched up and she looked over to Jemma's face, who had just put the bar of whatever it was into her mouth. She didn't look too happy about it which really made the brunette not want to eat it, but she was so hungry. She put it in her mouth anyway, and took a bite. She made almost the exact same face as Jemma before forcing herself to chew the rest of it and swallow.

The question had caught her off guard, and she made herself take another bite of the protein bar as she thought of a real answer. It had been so long ago since she was brought to the project…before the park even opened, actually and she had been so focused on the raptors that she had forgotten why she had come here to begin with.

"Well…I mean I guess animals always interested me…" She shrugged and balled up the empty wrapper in her hands and shoved it into her pocket. "My dad was a veterinarian so I've always been surrounded by them and I've always wanted to work with them…but when he died I didn't exactly have money for school. I ended up joining the navy and they eventually paid my way through college and I got some degrees in animal care and behavior with a minor in psych. I was fresh out and didn't have a job and an old buddy of mine showed me this obscure thing," Skye shrugged, using her hands while she talked without even realizing it, moving them this way and that as she continued, "And it was off the coast of Costa Rica and I didn't have a home to go back to or any money, so I figured why not. Now here I am, still working with animals…although not quite the ones I would have expected." Skye chuckled then and shoved her hands into her pockets, a little embarrassed with herself that she had gushed so much. She hadn't talked to anyone about her dad or her life before Jurassic World in a long time. Even Trip was a little fuzzy on the details. He said that her past didn't matter and that he was just glad she was there for him to hang out with now.

"So uhm…what about you? How do you wind up in a lab making dinosaurs for a living?" The brunette grinned again, "I mean that's like…a pretty obscure job, no offense. You've got to be some sort of bonafide genius or something."

"I'm sorry about your dad." Jemma gave Skye's shoulder a comforting squeeze before she dropped the downcast mood. She assumed it wasn't something she liked to talk about often and she appreciated that Skye trusted her enough to tell her. If that had happened to her, she wouldn't want people changing the way they looked at her because of it, so she moved on from the sad topic and began wondering how to explain her little life story and how she ended up here. She stuffed the wrapper into the backpack and cleared her throat, trying to figure out exactly where she wanted to start. There was a very clear purpose in her reasons for coming here, but it wasn't as easy to explain to other people as it was for her to know herself.

"I actually am a genius, believe it or not." She grinned. This wasn't a fact about herself that she shared often, though people tended to just assume it.

"Well, it was curiosity that drove me to take this job, but it was also more than that." Jemma kicked at a rock on the ground as they walked. She'd never actually told anyone why she'd come here, not even Fitz. He had a natural curiosity and the need to expand human knowledge in science, and Jemma just let him think that was her reason too.

"My parents worked with animals too, but in a different way. They worked in animal preservation and rehabilitation, so we were constantly moving to remote places on several different continents where they researched the endangered animals there and tried to preserve their habitats. I never had much of a social life, as you can tell. I never actually went to school. I studied on my own using a school's curriculum, and I finished all the material two years early, so I got my high school diploma when I was sixteen and went to college before seventeen. Starting there I worked to get PhDs in genetics, zoology, and anatomy." Jemma noticed, but ignored, the impressed look on Skye's face, the same one everyone gave her when they found out she had three PhD's at the age of twenty-seven.

"When Jurassic World began looking for scientists, that's when I got a call. I couldn't believe it at first, but I took the job. I thought if I could resurrect dinosaurs, I would be able to do the same for all the other endangered species my parents fought so hard to protect." Jemma finally finished. Her story wasn't particularly emotional, she'd never been that type of person. It had always been work, work, work, with her only connections being to her parents and the dying out species of the animal kingdom. There was Fitz, but only since she'd come to Jurassic World. "And here I am."

It felt weird to have it out in the open, and the silence that followed as each of them really thought about the other one's story wasn't awkward, but comfortable.

"Wow, yeah…that's like," Skye made a gulping sound as her eyebrows rose while avoiding an upraised root, "That's like a whole new level of impressive…" She scratched the back of her head, and then went about pulling the rest of it up into a ponytail to keep the wet out of her face. It would probably be a while before their clothes dried off. Both girls had been soaked to the bone.

"So, assuming we survive and everything. I mean I have no doubt," Skye countered quickly, turning to Jemma with a worried smile on her face that she might have scared the scientist, "I mean you've got a navy seal survival expert with you who knows how to handle dangerous dinosaurs." Skye shut her mouth then and looked straight ahead, jaw clenched just slightly. Why was she finding it so hard to get her words out? She was acting like Jemma did when they had first met in the lab, all rambling and ridiculous.

"What I meant was…when we are done here and the Indominus is…caught or done with or whatever, do you think you'll stay here at Jurassic World? Assuming it stays open of course, or do you think you'll go and help other animals? I mean I know the dinosaurs here are doing pretty well for themselves. I think I heard something about some type of rhino recently going extinct. That sounds right up your ally…from what you said you wanted to do anyway."

Jemma smiled at Skye's attempt to comfort her, and even though she knew there was no way Skye could guarantee her safety, it still worked. It was weird seeing the personality flip, how Jemma was suddenly more confident around her and Skye suddenly turned into the one having trouble with words. It couldn't possibly mean the same thing to Skye as it did to Jemma though, it just wouldn't happen.

Skye's question surprised her, and it was surprising to Jemma herself that she hadn't thought about it yet. She'd gotten so used to it here during the past years, Jurassic World was her home now. She thought she'd been doing a good thing by giving extinct species another chance, but everything was in question now.

"I'm not sure anymore." She sighed. "I guess I'm going to leave unless there's a dramatic change in the way corporate treats the scientists. Even though we're the professionals, they don't listen to us, as I'm sure you can relate. They pressured me into creating the Indominus rex, and look what happened. Look what _I did._ " Jemma bit back a few tears that threatened to spill, now was not the time for this, but she kept going anyway. Skye had put the blame on her for a lot of things, but Jemma was only now realizing how this was all essentially her fault. "That dinosaur is killing people, and I feel responsible. I don't know if I _can_ stay after this."

"Hey, I know I was kind of a jerk before," Skye started, then corrected herself, "Okay, I was a super jerk…but still, you were just doing your job, you know? Ward pressured you into making his dinosaur, like how he is pressuring me to try and use the raptors for his own benefit. I mean, he says he wants to put them on Isla Nublar so that people can finally see them in action at the park, but I think he really just wants to test their temperament around a lot of people. He's got some ulterior motives…I just…I just can't figure them out," The brunette was starting to sound a little bitter, and her hands had clenched up into fists, but she forced herself to relax.

"He screwed us both over, so don't feel bad about what his twisted imagination wants these dinosaurs for. You didn't know any better, just like I didn't when he offered me the job," Skye sighed and looked around. She thought her ears had picked up something, but when a breeze blew by she brushed it off. The wind was rustling the trees and the warm afternoon air felt good against her still damp skin.

"You've done great stuff. I mean, you were the one that made my raptors…and sure they're dangerous, but I still love them you know? It's not a lot different than working with tigers or something…the bond is strange, but…you have helped twenty thousand people every day to see something that they wouldn't have seen without you. You should be proud of that. You can't let one mistake…even if its eight tons and forty feet tall and eats people, define your entire outlook. Shit happens…" Skye smiled weakly over to the scientist.

Jemma smiled and even laughed a little at Skye's speech, but she still couldn't help feeling guilty. One thing she took out of it was the way Skye's voice changed whenever she talked about Grant Ward. It was obvious there was some kind of history there, especially once Skye mentioned Ward was the one who got her a job here. People felt more hate towards friends turned enemies than any normal rival. He was probably that friend Skye had talked about only moments before.

The rest of their walk was quiet, as they had fallen into comfortable silence again. Their main goal now was to find shelter before dark, and they were running out of time, as the sun slowly started to dip below the tops of the trees and cast a pinkish glow over the tropical forest.

Being the very observant person she was, Jemma noticed the different structure ahead before Skye did. Covered in plants, it could have looked like a normal rock, if it hadn't been for its perfectly straight wall and rusty brown color between the green vines, contrasting from the usual grey rock in the area.

"Hey, look at this." Jemma jogged ahead of Skye to get to the strange formation and she got to work pulling away the greenery. Already dirty hands brushed away dirt and roots, and she was surprised, pleased, and curious to find two handles and a familiar dinosaur skeleton logo. "What do you think is in here?" She asked, turning once Skye caught up.

Skye hurriedly caught up, brushing some of the plants out of the way herself before she stood back and took a long look at the doors. The logo triggered her memory and a wide grin grew on the girl's face, almost in disbelief as she reached for Jemma's shoulder and gently pulled the girl back. The brunette held Jemma in front of her and pointed to the doors, "It's the original building. It's Jurassic Park…"

She let go of the doctor's shoulders and quickly moved around her again, back to the door and grasped one of the handles firmly before tugging. It screeched open and Skye had to use all her strength to get the rusty door to open but once she did, it stayed that way. It was dark inside and Skye couldn't see very far into the room but it would be as good a place for shelter as they were going to find with daylight running out.

"Do you happen to have a flashlight in that bag of yours, Jems?" She motioned for the scientist to quickly come over and take a look inside with her. "This will be a great hiding place for the night. If this is the building I think it is, there's probably everything in here. A cafeteria for food, staffs quarters, a supply room, everything. We will be set and ready to go tomorrow. They might even have a vehicle in the back we can use!"

"This is amazing!" Jemma gasped. From what she could see by the skylight windows above, this really was the original Jurassic Park lobby. She wandered towards the center, getting down on her hands and knees and letting her fingers brush over the bones all over the ground. It seemed the original Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that had been on display hadn't been moved either. Jemma suddenly looked up in surprise when Skye asked her if she had any flashlights. It wasn't the question that had her stunned, but the name Skye used to address her. People very rarely called her by her first name, and no one had ever given her a nickname before.

"I don't have any flashlights, but if the ICERs still work, they give off a small glow." Jemma dug around in the bag, eventually finding what she was looking for and shaking off the giddy feeling Skye had given her for some reason. It took a few moments, but she managed to activate one pistol, and then the other, getting up and passing one to Skye. They didn't provide much light, but it was enough to make sure they didn't trip over anything.

"Based off of pictures I've seen, I'm fairly certain there is a garage and an employee break room this way." Jemma pointed, though the direction wasn't very clear in the dim lighting. She stepped over several bones, hoping Skye was still behind her, heading towards where she believed useful items would be.

"We are standing on the original site…" Skye breathed in awe, taking the gun from the doctor and holding it out slightly to illuminate what part of the way she could. They could probably manage to find some flashlights in the garage or the staff break room that would be able to come in handy to explore more.

"We are in the original building…" The brunette repeated, following after her human map, past the rex bones and down a long hallway. Skye had to stop, and hold the pistol up to the wall, illuminating all of the original paintings. "Woah, look! Here's a raptor," Skye grinned, putting her hand up to the painting and whipping some of the dust away. "I can't believe they just left it like this. They should turn it into a museum. People would love to see the original site!" She was getting excited and she was acting like a child. The raptor handler knew she tended to get silly when something excited her, but she figured this warranted it.

"We should find a good place to hide in here, probably the break room. Hopefully they will have some supplies we can use to go exploring in here. Think of all the things we can find!" She finally left the painting behind and caught up with Jemma, keeping pace with her in the dark.

Jemma was amused by Skye's childish behavior and the way everything here was exciting to her. It was fun to see each new side of Skye the more time they spent together. Skye could have been right about tourists enjoying seeing the original Jurassic Park building, but corporate probably kept it from becoming an attraction for the same reason Jemma was uneasy being here now.

"Some people would like to see it, I'm sure, but it might bother others that people died here." Jemma explained as they continued. It was ironic, she had created another deadly event like what had happened last time, and now here she was, finding the original site. She observed each painting and everything around her with interest, but she wasn't too keen on exploring, that would be like asking to find something they wouldn't like. She was happy finding a place to stay the night and not coming out until it was light out.

"I'm about eighty percent sure this is the break room." Jemma said when they reached a door. Before her parents had let her come work here, they advised her to read up on what had happened last time. They gave her the whole "you need to know history so it doesn't repeat itself" speech, but apparently it hadn't changed anything. History had repeated itself. The only knowledge that was useful now was that she relatively knew the layout of this building.

Before she could change her mind, Jemma turned the squeaky, rusted handle and stepped inside, holding up the ICER to fill the room with a little more light. The room turned out to be little more than a lounge, the only thing here were tables, chairs, and a mini-fridge full of food that expired years ago. It wasn't entirely a loss, there was a ratty couch in the corner they could both fit on if they tried.

Without saying another word to Skye because she felt like she was preserving the old silence of the building, Jemma moved to the only other door in the room and went through it. She couldn't see much, but a small crack with the last of the light from outside caught her attention on the ground. She walked around a large something that was in her way and wedged her fingers into the crack, pulling upwards. Skye soon appeared beside her to give her a hand, and after a few seconds of vigorous pulling, the rust or whatever had been holding the door shut fell away and what had seemed like a wall earlier slid up, flooding the musty room in the grey light of sundown and fresh air from outside.

"Do you think we can get one of these to work?" Jemma asked in excitement, putting her hand on one of the jeeps she could now see. Before Skye even answered her, Jemma was already rummaging through cabinets. There was a flashlight inside, and though Jemma had to tap it on her palm a few times after flipping the switch, it flickered on and brightened the room even more so they could search for supplies.

The sight of the jeep sent a flood of relief over Skye and the girl sighed happily as she laid her hands down on the hood. They had found a vehicle, now they just needed to somehow get it to work. "Yeah, totally. I fix my dad's old bike up all the time. This baby shouldn't take too much tinkering. I'm sure there are extra batteries lying around here somewhere. It's a garage for heaven's sake," Skye wiped some of the dust onto her already dirty vest. She was glad to see Jemma found a flashlight. They would probably need it during the night.

"We can try and fix it up in the morning, when there is more daylight. We should try and find a telephone or a radio or something so we can send a signal out to the control room so they know we are alive. We should probably also find the cafeteria, or see if the break room has food, because we both aren't going to survive on only one of those protein bars alone," The brunette advised and shoved the pistol into her back pocket and began to rummage around in the dying light.

She miraculously managed to find another flashlight and a set of batteries which she hoped weren't corroded. It took a couple of tries, but the light soon flicked on, making the brunette smiled again. "Plenty of goodies in here for us! I can't wait to see what else they ha-"

The dinosaur trainer stopped mid sentence. The ground below her feet had shaken, for the briefest of moments, and when it did so again not soon after, Skye's eyes shot over to Jemma.

"Turn the light out!" She whispered harshly and quickly shut hers off and shoved it into her pocket, quickly shuffling over to Jemma in the dim light and grabbing her, pulling her down behind the front of the jeep. Just as she did, there was some loud rustling and more loud thuds as a great pair of white scaled feet passed by the open garage door.

The Indominus had caught up to them, and it let out a roar into the dying light of the evening and Skye could hear all of the birds in the trees start to cry out and leave the branches. The brunette reached around and pulled Jemma further towards the front of the car and away from the edge where she might be seen.

As soon as Jemma had heard Skye's command, she quickly tried to turn out the light, but the switch was old and rusty and it had gotten stuck when Jemma had managed to force it into the on position. When Skye grabbed her and pulled her to the floor, Jemma had the bulb pressed up against her stomach to keep the light from shining, but as they sat on the floor trying to hide, Jemma could feel it heating up. It was quickly beginning to feel too hot against her stomach, even through her clothes, and she motioned towards it so Skye would understand what was going on. One hand still on the flashlight, Jemma grabbed one of Skye's and wrapped her fingers around the handle, hoping she'd get the message to hold it still. The switch was hopelessly stuck, so while Skye held the light in place, Jemma tried not to think about the killer dinosaur just outside as she slowly twisted the front of the light against her stomach, aiming to open the battery compartment so the light would go dark on its own.

Just when the rattling started up again and it seemed like the Indominus rex was about to move on, the turning plastic on the light squeaked. As Jemma flinched and froze, trying not to make any more noise, the I-Rex stopped too. Jemma looked to Skye in horror, and the very hot light felt like it was searing her skin, but she couldn't get it to turn off without drawing the dinosaur towards them, so Jemma bit her lip and ignored the burning sensation. A tiny whimper escaped her mouth and she knew she had to get the light off before it burned her and she gave away their position on accident. Jemma pushed against the switch with her thumb as hard as she possibly could, and it finally turned off the light, but not without making an awfully loud snapping sound as it changed positions.

The I-Rex let out a roar and Jemma clung to Skye as the beast shoved its head into the garage door, knowing because of its thermal vision that something small was inside, but not sure how to get to it. When Jemma glanced to the side, her eyes widened and her hands grabbed Skye's shirt with even more force. There was a massive set of jaws only inches away, Jemma could see in full detail the blood on each of its teeth and the shreds of flesh still stuck between its fangs. She could feel a scream bubbling up her throat as her entire body shook in fear, and Jemma wondered if this was going to be her last moment.

Skye was trying not to hyperventilate herself. She was trained for dangerous situations. She needed to calm down and help Jemma calm down, but her own eyes widened when the Indominus thrust its face in next to the jeep, wiggling around and trying to locate them. She didn't have as clear a view as the smaller girl, but she could tell by Jemma's grip on her clothes that it wasn't a pleasant one. She felt the girl trembling and Skye pulled her in and wrapped her arms around her as quietly as she could to keep her from shaking and rattling against anything on accident to make more noise.

It wasn't helping and the fact that the smaller girl in her arms was panicking didn't help her to not panic. In fact, her heart was racing so fast and beating so hard against her chest she was fairly certain that the killer dinosaur would be able to hear it. The two watched in horror as the carnivore's nose pressed up against the side of the jeep, lifting it and creating an awful scraping sound, shaking it to try and get them to move. Skye could see the scientist was about to explode. She couldn't handle it. She panicked.

Skye's hand left the flashlight, letting it drop to the ground as the jeep clattered and squeaked back to the ground as the Indominus dropped it, hoping to stir them from hiding. It had moved around to the back of Jemma's neck, turning her head away so she wouldn't be facing the dinosaur and quickly, without thinking, Skye lunged in and pressed her lips against Jemma's, stifling the scream the girl had been building up in her throat. She needed to keep her quiet, and she didn't know why this was the first thing she thought of, but it was.

The kiss lasted several seconds, the brunette holding onto Simmons securely to give some semblance of safety while her eyes watched past Jemma's head to the Indominus, who slowly pulled its face out of the garage. She heard the dinosaur rumble and take a few more steps, and at last, she broke the kiss, staring at Jemma with a flushed face she hoped the girl wouldn't be able to see in the dark. She held her finger up to her mouth, signaling her to stay quiet, despite the events which had just occurred and she pulled her up to stand.

Skye was looking for something, anything, to cover up their smell. She could still feel the footfalls of the animal outside and knew it hadn't left. It was just trying to work a different angle. She found what she was looking for, and she quickly grabbed the can of old car grease and put on an apologetic face before she tossed some all over the small scientist.  
Jemma couldn't keep up. Her mind was running at a million miles per minute but she still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. The intense feeling of Skye's kiss was simmering in her mind and in her body, but before her brain could even process how she really felt about it, she was being doused in a liquid so strongly scented that she wanted to throw up.

There was no time for Skye to pour any on herself because the roof began to creak and suddenly a mouth of sharp teeth came crashing through the ceiling. Skye almost shrieked herself, but she put a hand over Jemma's mouth and pulled her quickly into the corridor and up against the opposite wall. The concrete would hopefully block the Indominus Rex's thermal vision, and the grease smell would hopefully cover up their human scent.

Skye could hear in the other room, the I-Rex making a mess and smashing things about, before it shoved its muzzle once more into the hallway. If Jemma wanted, she would be able to reach right out and touch its scales, but Skye had one hand wrapped around her stomach from behind, pulling Jemma into her and back away from the dinosaur and one hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming again.

Skye's arm on Jemma's stomach and the hand on her face kept her grounded, even though she had the misfortune to be so close to the dinosaur's jaws and so exposed if it were to reach them. She did her best not to scream, and both of her hands locked onto the arm around her just so she had something to hold onto. The jaws snapped at them, and Jemma felt Skye yank her even further away to stay out of reach.

Just when Jemma was sure it was all over and the Indominus rex was going to find a way to get to them, a faint sound could be heard over the chaos in the building, and even the dinosaur stopped to listen. If Jemma was correct, it sounded like a helicopter. Had they somehow managed to locate the I-Rex and finally send weapons to kill it?

No shots were fired, but as sound of the vehicle pushing air beneath it grew louder, the dinosaur finally pulled its head away and remained outside. The ground vibrated beneath their feet as the beast that had been trying to eat them only seconds before was now roaring and stomping after the helicopter. Jemma was confused about why no one attacked the dinosaur, and she came to the furious conclusion that Ward was still trying to only capture it, though that was the last thing on her mind right now. She couldn't even let herself be mad when she was so thankful to be alive. She owed all of it to Skye, and as they could both hear each other's heavy breathing because of the renewed silence, Jemma sank to the floor, and Skye followed her.

Jemma turned in Skye's arms, finally facing her and looking into her eyes. She glanced down at the other woman's lips and suddenly remembered their kiss, and heat made her entire face flushed, all the way to the tips of her ears. Skye couldn't have actually meant that, could she? It was all just to get her to stay quiet, that was the only reason that had happened. But Jemma wasn't so sure.

"Thank you..." She finally breathed, wrapping her arms around Skye's neck and holding her close, leaning into her with her whole body. When she pulled away, her hands remained on the back of Skye's neck, one slightly pushed up into her hair. "Did you, um- did you mean that?" Jemma asked cautiously, unsure of herself. The two of them had shared more than a few mixed signals over the past few days, so it was confusing. It was all cleared up by the small spark in Skye's eye when she asked the question, though. That was all she needed to know.

Slowly, Jemma leaned in until she could feel Skye's breath hot against her cheeks. The brunette's skin felt flushed beneath her hands, and after making eye contact with Skye once more to make sure she was correct in her presumption, she tilted her head to the side slightly and pressed their lips together with more tenderness and compassion than their last kiss moments ago. This one meant so much more.

Adrenaline was still rushing through her veins, making her tense, even as they sank to the floor and listened as the helicopter lured the Indominus away. Relief didn't flood her system until Skye felt soft lips on her own again, and she wasn't sure what to do. The tension in her body evaporated, and the brunette audibly sighed into the kiss. Was she so relieved only because the dinosaur was gone or did it have something to do with the scientist too? It was hard to focus, and by the time Skye pulled away she was fairly certain it was a combination of the two.

Before, coming into the lab, Skye had always enjoyed talking to and teasing the scientist. It was so easy to do and she enjoyed the blush and flustered look it put on the girl's face, but if you had asked her if she was flirting, the brunette would have denied it. Having had to spend so much time with Jemma over the last few days though, something had seemed to shift. A different switch was flipped on in her head whenever she talked to her and teased her. She had felt so strongly before when running with her from the I-Rex. So strongly, she realized, she had stopped and slowed down to actually turn and shoot at it so that Jemma could get away. Skye had told herself then that it was so they could both escape, and partially that was true, but now that she thought about it, it had almost turned into a self sacrificing move.

Even when she had rushed up the stairs and found the girl under the pile of rubble, her heart had been pounding so hard it had felt like it might burst from her chest. And when they ran from the triceratops...the same thing. She had made sure Jemma got to the edge first and had almost been impaled in the process. Almost drowned trying to keep her from drowning and all of it had culminated in her panicked move to kiss the girl to keep her quiet. And they had just done so again...except this time it was more real. She was relieved both because they were alive and also because she could finally pinpoint the feeling in her chest that had bubbled up over the past couple days.

"I...I like you," it came out as little more than a whisper. It was almost like Skye was saying it to herself, for confirmation, than actually to Jemma. Her arms tightened around the smaller girl nevertheless and she found herself leaning in and connected their lips one more time. It was a little rougher, Skye was out of practice and still somewhat shaky from the entire encounter, but the warm feeling that flooded her when she kissed the smaller girl was a very good indication her realization was 100% true. "Yeah...I like you a lot..."

Jemma sighed in contentment and relief. Yes, they'd just escaped a man eating dinosaur, but knowing Skye didn't hate her- knowing Skye _liked_ her- that was a huge weight lifted off her chest. Every time the raptor trainer had waltzed into the lab, Jemma had been flustered and embarrassed because she was scared she wasn't the type of person Skye enjoyed talking to, and all the arguing that had gone down between them had made Jemma so angry because of all the people she'd accept blaming her, Skye was the last on the list.

"I like you, too..." Jemma whispered, the quiet words accompanied by a sniffle. Light tear streaks were still visible on her face, the endeavor had been incredibly frightening and as she had cried, the tears left tracks down her dirty face. "A lot." Jemma's hands stayed on Skye's neck, and she kissed her softly one last time before she shifted. Her new position allowed her to lean into Skye, wrapping her arms around her and leaning her head against the other woman's shoulder.

They stayed in that position, clinging to each other with Jemma practically in Skye's lap, for several minutes before either of them disturbed the peace. Their confessions, while both mutual, made Jemma feel a little awkward. As much as she wanted to stay cuddled up against Skye and be comforted by her, they weren't like normal new couples, if that's what they were. They couldn't afford to stay idle, what little time they weren't preparing needed to actually be spent sleeping. Jemma pulled away, with some silent opposition from Skye, and pulled herself to her feet.

"We, um, we need to search for more supplies, maybe find that cafeteria?" She cleared her throat after speaking, unsure of how this social situation was supposed to work. They'd admitted they both liked each other, but now what? There was still a man-eating beast on the loose.

Before Skye could say anything, Jemma walked back towards the garage to get her flashlight. She froze in the doorway, feeling incredibly exposed now in the room with an open wall and only a partial ceiling, so she rushed in, grabbed the hardly functional flashlight, and rushed out.

She met Skye back in the hallway and as she struggled to get the light to turn on again, she remembered the burn on her stomach and absentmindedly placed a hand over it, not very pleased with the stinging it brought. It was nothing compared to Skye's wound, though, so she wasn't going to complain. Finally, with another snap that echoed in the hall, the area in front of her flooded with dim yellow light.

Skye nodded, feeling a little more awkward and slightly embarrassed now that all of her adrenaline had faded away, leaving her to cope with what had transpired between the two of them. She was relieved that Jemma hadn't reacted badly but still, she hadn't done this sort of thing in a very long time, and their circumstance wasn't exactly normal. It's not every day that you and your crush confessed to one another after being chased by the deadliest dinosaur alive. So of course she was a little flustered. Well, more than a little, but there was no time to be awkward. They still had things to do. They still had to survive.

"Yeah, you're right. You're the human map so lead the way," Skye pulled out her own flashlight and flicked it on, noticing Jemma rub her stomach. They would have to get something onto that. Find some sort of salve or something. Skye was sure they had more in the first aid kit. "We will need lots of food, and then of course whatever else we can find that will help us survive the jungle. Especially another radio or a phone or something...mine is shot since we jumped into the waterfall." The raptor trainer followed after the small scientist, sticking close to her in case anything jumped out. She doubted it would, but the building was so old and there was so much chaos outside now she wasn't sure what dinosaurs had gotten loose and which ones hadn't.

"So uhm...why didn't you jump earlier? I mean I understand being afraid of heights, but there was a really angry triceratops chasing us...seems like a pretty good reason to me. Can you really not swim? Because you almost drowned both of us," Skye chuckled, nudging the girl gently to show she wasn't angry. They might as well keep talking to each other, learn a little more. It couldn't hurt at this point, only help.

"I didn't exactly have a lot of opportunities to learn how to swim," Jemma answered jokingly. The lights made it way easier to travel through the dark building, but it made Jemma no less cautious, and she didn't look at Skye as she talked, but at the area surrounding them, just in case. Her poor excuse for not jumping off the cliff wasn't the real reason and she was pretty certain Skye knew this.

"One of the animals my parents researched when I was a kid were dolphins. I got too close to one in temporary containment, and it dragged me underwater. It wasn't trying to hurt me, it was just playing, but it pulled me into the tank and nearly thirty feet underwater. When divers finally got me back to the surface, I was dead and they had to resuscitate me. I never got back into the water after that, not until today." Jemma was surprised by her own willingness to tell Skye these things, things she'd never even told Fitz, after just one day of finally being friendly with one another. Something about her made Jemma want to tell her everything, in the best way possible. She wanted Skye to know her, to know everything about her.

"Thanks for not letting me drown." Jemma stopped walking to give Skye a small smile that really showed how truly grateful she was. It wasn't just the one time Skye had saved her life, she'd been protecting her this whole time.

Skye was stunned. She instantly regretted having teased Jemma, especially since she had gone through such a traumatic experience to make her fear water so much. The brunette couldn't blame her. She was surprised she was even considering staying at Jurassic World after almost dying several times, just today alone.

"I'm sorry...I didn't know. I wouldn't have made you jump if it wasn't necessary..." The brunette mumbled, shining her light down an empty hallway as they passed, making sure that nothing could jump out at them. She stopped though, when she saw a rusted sign on the side of the wall.

"Hey, Jems. Slow down, I think you want to look at this," Skye caught her by the shoulder gently and shone her light on the sign, which read 'Hammond Creation Laboratory'. "C'mon, lets go check it out. You know you want to see the original lab. We can spare a few minutes to explore," the raptor handler grinned and took Jemma's spare hand and pulled her down the hall to the double glass doors that had the lab sign on them. They were partially open and Skye managed to squeeze through the space. It was a dusty, rubble of a mess, but she could see all the egg chambers, eggs still inside and long since dead.

"Wow..." Shattered glass was everywhere, papers scattered about and equipment broken down and fallen over. "This is incredible...look, raptor eggs!" Skye was over to one of the incubators in a second, gently picking up one of the dusty tall eggs and turning it over in her hands.

"This is so surreal." Jemma's eyes were widened, taking in the full sight of the old lab, her past forgotten at the moment. She ran her fingers over varying machines, all of which she recognized. Though technology had advanced significantly since the time of Jurassic Park, the lab would have seemed modern if it wasn't so destroyed. Even Skye seemed interested, which was a surprise, though it shouldn't have been with the raptor eggs lying about.

"So now you're interested in the lab." Jemma laughed, watching Skye explore and look around. She would have never found the lab at Jurassic World so interesting, it was probably the fact that it was in ruins that entertained her.

"Hey, look at this." Jemma grinned and bent over to pick up an orange object that had reflected the beam of light. It was a mosquito, trapped in a ball of amber. It was perfectly round and smooth, and Jemma wondered if it had been the one that belonged to Hammond. "I wonder what kinds of dinosaurs are in here. It could be the original." Jemma was just as excited as Skye now.

Skye came over, shining her light against the amber as she gazed at it with interesting eyes, "Yeah! It could be! How awesome would that be for you to have the little bug that started it all?" With a pat on Jemma's back, the brunette returned to searching, stepping over more debris and entering into another room. Jemma wrapped up the amber in a stray lab coat and stuffed it into the backpack.

The glass door had been shattered completely, and Skye was careful to avoid cutting herself on the remain. She didn't know what everything was, but she did enjoy exploring it.

She had come to a room with more computers and small scale models of dinosaurs, some of bones, and some of the full creature in the flesh. Some cases held skulls and Skye moved past them with awe until she found one she recognized. There were two things in this case, and the raptor trainer had to blow off the dust from the nameplate to read it. 'Velociraptor skull 1A, Velociraptor vocal chamber 1B'. The case next to it held a very large raptor claw and it made Skye glad to know she wasn't on the receiving end of one of those deadly weapons. The vocal chamber on the other hand, that really interested her, so she took initiative and slammed her covered elbow into the glass, breaking it. She reached in gently, clearing the glass away, and pulled out the plastic model of the raptor voice box.

"Wow..." As she turned it over in her hand, she couldn't believe she had gotten ahold of one of these before. The lab never seemed it necessary and so apparently models like this weren't made anymore. As she looked, they had a vocal chamber for some sauropods, an utharaptor, and a parasaurolophus too! Of course she was curious, so she put the end she recognized from the 3d scans she was given of the raptors structure that air went into up against her mouth, and she blew it. A very familiar sound flooded her ears and the room and it made her grin, but she heard Jemma shriek from the other room. Skye laughed and quickly rushed back to her, "No, no, no! It's ok, look! It was me!" The brunette held the 3D vocal chamber print out to her, "It's a velociraptor vocal chamber! Listen!" She blew not it again, pressing a finger over a course of the different valves, causing various familiar raptor noises to flood the quiet room. She looked elated.

" _Never_ do that again unless I know it's you, at least not until this is over." Jemma tried to scold her, but the laugh in her voice was hard to miss. Her hand left her chest where she had put it during her near heart attack and instead it grabbed onto Skye's shoulder.

"You better put that thing away before you accidentally call our friend back to eat us." Jemma pointed out, which finally got Skye to stop making the noises that had been starting to make shivers crawl up her spine.

"Come on, we should keep looking for actual supplies. The cafeteria should be just down the hall." Jemma pointed out, heading back towards the exit of the lab. Skye looked reluctant to leave the raptor vocal chamber behind, and Jemma sighed before unzipping the backpack and holding it out to Skye to stuff it into, which earned her a smile. They carefully slipped back through broken glass doors and headed down the hall, which would have been pitch black if not for their flashlights. It was quiet, so quiet that whenever Jemma stepped on a dry leaf that had somehow gotten in or a piece of glass, the sound startled her.

"Here we are." Jemma stopped suddenly, turning to look into the room. There were no doors, there was just a large arch that led inside. It looked just like a theme park food court would, varying types of businesses in smaller stands lined all the walls, tables anywhere. "Let's see if there's anything still edible." Jemma wandered over to the first of the fast food places and climbed over the counter, heading straight for the back kitchens and rummaging through the cabinets.  
Jemma was disappointed to find that the first place only kept frozen foods, which had probably gone bad years ago, so Jemma didn't dare open the freezer.

It took the collective efforts of both Skye and Jemma and the searching of five booths before they finally found one that kept canned goods in stock, but it still wasn't guaranteed they could eat whatever was in them, it had been a long time.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure this one's toxic." Jemma practically choked on the smell of the contents of one can as she tossed it in the trash. They'd found a can opener and had been going through one by one, but many of them were spoiled and the one Jemma had just smelled was particularly horrible. "Your turn, my senses need a quick break." Jemma handed Skye the next can and plugged her nose, still grimacing at the last one and pretending to gag for comedic effect.

"You do realize that we might just have to suck it up for a night and eat whatever we find, right? I mean obviously not that one. That shit was rancid, but I mean if we find one that smells less like it died a second death…yeah, we will need the energy tomorrow," Skye grimaced too, but she knew that sacrifices were going to have to be made. Even if Hammond had 'spared no expense', the food didn't know that, and had spoiled regardless.

Taking the can opener, she picked up another can and worked her way around the lid, lifting it when she had finished, to smell it. It wasn't great, but it wasn't nearly as bad as that last can had been. "Here," She handed it to Jemma, "What about this one? Yay or nay?" The brunette went on to opening the next one. She only got halfway before she put the can down and slid it far away from her, "Nope, nope, I think that may have been tuna or something." Her face was all scrunched up and it was rather adorable as she shook her head and wiggled her nose like a rabbit.

She went through two more before she found another one that smelled decent. They had managed to snag a rather large can of beans and a moderate sized can of pudding. Somehow pudding had managed to survive the dinosaur apocalypse. Skye wasn't sure how it happened, but she wasn't upset. She wasn't going to turn down dessert by any means. "I can open these others, but I don't know if you want to save them in case something happens or see if there is something better in one of them. We don't have a lot of options, unfortunately," The brunette shrugged and set the can opener down and got up, taking her flashlight and walking towards the front where she managed to find some silverware. At this point, they were so dusty and dirty she wondered if there would be any point or if they should just use their hands, but she brought the two spoons back anyway, handing one to Jemma, "Here you go."

They had also managed to find an actual case of bottled water and two jugs of water. Any soda had long since gone bad, along with the rest. Luckily, water lasted for a long long time.

"I guess we should take what we can get." Jemma sighed, staring at their half-assed meal with slight disgust. Skye handed her a spoon and Jemma tried wiping it off, but even her shirt was dirty at this point, so there wasn't really a better option. Jemma put her hands on the counter and hopped up backwards, sitting next to the two cans with her legs dangling off the edge.

"To food poisoning." Jemma raised her spoon like they were having a toast before scooping up a small bite of pudding, the lesser of two expired evils, and putting it into her mouth. Skye watched her, obviously waiting to see her reaction before eating anything since Jemma had so kindly volunteered to go first again. Skye risked her life when there were dinosaurs involved, so Jemma had deemed herself the poison tester. She swallowed without letting it sit in her mouth.

"It isn't horrible, but it definitely isn't what pudding should taste like." Jemma laughed, reaching for one of the jugs of water. It would be easier for them to drink those first, since water bottles would be more convenient to carry with them the next day. She hadn't realized how thirsty she'd gotten and that she hadn't had a drink since that morning, and she drank quite a bit of it before setting the container back on the counter.

"I dunno…" Skye started with a grin, hopping up on the counter next to the scientist, "You should see some of the expired food in my trailer." It was a joke of course, but Skye reached her spoon over and dipped it in the pudding, putting it in her mouth quickly and swallowing before she could let it touch her tongue. That hadn't stopped the taste though, and she frowned a little bit. "Yeah, totally not what pudding should taste like," She shook her head, but went in for another bite regardless. She was actually starving. That protein bar before had done little to stifle the hunger growing in her stomach all day long.

When she saw how much of the water Jemma had drank though, she quickly set the spoon down and picked up the jug. She too began to swallow it down, lowering the contents significantly before she set it back down.

"Guess we were really thirsty. At least the water tastes like water. I would say we can take another jug and wash off this grime somehow, but it might actually come in handy tomorrow if we run into any more trouble. The less we smell like food, the better," She took her spoon back up and turned her sights on the can of beans. She might as well.

They tasted like mush…and salt. Lots of salt. Like squished salty beans with a hint of acidity and a killer aftertaste. "Well at least we get some protein," Skye picked up the can and offered it to the doctor, "Not sure if it's better or worse or just as bad as the pudding," She laughed and took another spoon full of both, trying hard to let neither linger in her mouth long before she swallowed. They were both hungry, but the building blocked out the sounds of the jungle and only the scraping of their spoons against the can metal remained and it was slightly unnerving to just listen to silence. It was making Skye jittery. She was used to all the noise of Isla Sorna and of the dinosaurs and the raptors. Even her trailer didn't block out this much sound.

"So…uhm…if you could have like, a different first date," Skye swallowed that last spoonful hard, "Like, because this one is not so great…if you could have a different one, like a real one without dinosaurs chasing you, uhm…" She couldn't just spit it out. She wasn't sure if she wanted to spit the words out or the food, so she settled for the words.

"What I'm trying to ask is, what kind of a first date do you think would be nice?"

Jemma had just taken a bite of the awful beans with a texture she could only compare to mashed potatoes when Skye finally managed to ask her question. Jemma held a hand over her mouth and forced herself to swallow what was there before she stared at Skye with a little bit of shock on her face. She'd enjoyed every second of their short kisses, but she hadn't expected Skye to officially ask her out on a date, at least not yet.

"Oh," she breathed, holding her spoon in her lap and really facing Skye. The other woman looked nervous, and it made Jemma want to laugh. Upon meeting Skye in the lab, Jemma took her for someone who was always confident. "Anything with you and without dinosaurs chasing us would be lovely." She smiled, completely accepting Skye's invitation and insuring her that there was nothing to be worried about by squeezing her hand gently.

After several more bites of the expired food and a lot more water, Jemma was finished trying to eat. It had hopefully been enough to last her until the two of them made it to the control room, but even if it wasn't she didn't think she could make herself eat any more of it. Throwing up would defeat the purpose, so she didn't take another bite.

"If we want any sleep at all before morning we should probably-" a yawn interrupted her sentence and Jemma leaned into Skye slightly. "-get to it." She shook her head to ward off sleep for a few minutes longer so she could stuff as many water bottles as she could into the backpack on the floor, and she managed to fit three. Throwing it over her shoulder, Jemma picked up her flashlight from the counter, which they had left on so they could see, and pointed it towards the archway so Skye would get the message. There weren't many comfortable places to sleep, but the staff break room would probably be the best. It had the ratty couch inside and the room was small enough to make it feel safer.

The brunette felt significantly less nervous upon hearing the doctor's answer, and it made her smile even more when the smaller girl leaned against her as she grew tired. They both needed a lot of rest. They had expended a lot of energy today running for their lives and as Skye figured, they would probably have to do a little more of it tomorrow before they reached the control room.

She followed after Jemma, her own flashlight adding some more light as they moved down the hallway and back towards the break room. She had spotted an old couch, so that would probably be the bed for the night. Once they got back, Skye held open the door for her, and once they were inside, she set to work moving some heavy furniture in front of the door, just as a precaution. She didn't think the Indominus would be using the door, but still, somehow it made her feel safer to know it was barricaded. When she turned back to look at the small room, the couch, and Jemma, she suddenly let herself relax. The state of her exhaustion finally hit her as she shuffled to the old raggedy couch and looked at it and then back to the doctor. She wasn't sure if they should share it. She wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor. They had only just kissed and Skye had barely managed to ask her out, if that was even what she had done, but she was sure that sharing a bed came quite a few steps after those things. Even if their circumstance was out of the ordinary.

Jemma had not failed to notice the way the gears seemed to be spinning in Skye's mind as she looked between Jemma and the couch. She had the same nervous thought, but she was more willing to share. Jemma knew she wouldn't mind herself, it was Skye she was more concerned about. Jemma wouldn't deny that she smelled disgusting, she was still covered in car grease and all kinds of dirt, so she wasn't exactly the best bed buddy.

"You take the couch, you're injured and sleeping on the floor wouldn't help." Jemma instructed, removing one of the two throw pillows and tossing it to the ground along with her backpack. Skye gave her a look, but Jemma didn't know her quite well enough to understand what it meant.

"I'm pretty sure nothing but a few stitches and some pain medicine will help," Skye commented and looked back at the couch. She didn't really want to sleep on the floor herself, but she also didn't want to have to make Jemma sleep on the floor either. The couch wasn't the biggest and sharing it would put them pretty close up against each other. Despite having already learned about the doctor's background, the brunette still didn't see her as the 'roughing it' type.

"No, you can take the couch," Skye shook her head, snatching the pillow Jemma had grabbed for the floor and holding it, "I bet it's been ages since you slept on a flat surface like, this, if ever. It's almost second nature for me. I'll be fine, really." It wasn't that she minded having to sleep on the small couch with the other girl, in fact, she had played it over several times in her head just now, but she wasn't so sure Jemma would even want to. They had just started this confusing thing that they were doing, and even though both of them seemed pretty sure about it, it had been a long time since Skye had done this.

Jemma scoffed and went for the other pillow still left on the couch, tossing it to the ground and sitting on it in defiance. There was no way she was going to do the two things giving in and taking the couch would do. One, it could strain the brunette's injury to sleep on the ground, and two, she didn't want Skye to think she was a delicate flower.

"I can handle it. I've spent more than a few nights sleeping over a desk after working into the early hours of the morning, the floor is nothing." Jemma said defensively, though not angrily. She was trying to prove a point, not start a fight, so she was careful about her tone and tried to keep it light and joking.

"You're sleeping on the couch. Doctor's orders." Jemma said, pointing at it with a small smile on her face. She knew Skye was trying to be polite, but Jemma didn't want her waking up in pain the next morning to do so when Jemma was perfectly capable of sleeping on the floor and preventing it.

"Well…well what about you? You've got an injury too," The brunette retorted, pointing towards the smaller woman's stomach. "You burnt yourself holding the flashlight, remember? It…It wouldn't do for you to sleep on the floor either," She started, but then began to slow down as her brain caught up to what her mouth was starting to suggest. Skye quickly quieted and held the dusty pillow close to her chest. She had been about to suggest they share the couch. But it was ridiculously small and they smelled terrible and it would probably be just as uncomfortable as the floor.

"You should put some of that stuff on it," Skye quickly changed the subject and then shoved her own pillow into the floor, trying to keep from getting flustered again. She sat on top of it in her own symbol of defiance and crossed her arms. "If you're s-sleeping on the floor then I'm sleeping on the floor too, so you might as well take the couch," Skye started again. It seemed her mouth just wouldn't give up. The rest of that sentence being, 'so I can sleep on the couch too.'

Jemma sighed when Skye started countering her again, but she looked back at her curiously when the other girl began to stutter. From what small amount of experience Jemma had with her, that meant she was nervous and unsure how to express what she was really thinking. No more than a few seconds passed before Jemma figured out what Skye really wanted to say, and she was shocked. It was a surprise that Skye wanted to be anywhere near her because of the foul smell of the car grease, so it was much more surprising that she was willing to get even closer than she was now. Jemma started to consider the idea, but she hadn't shared a bed with anyone in a long time, and the fact that she didn't know if she did anything embarrassing in her sleep was unnerving.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, though. Jemma knew she enjoyed the other touches they shared, and she would probably end up with nightmares after everything had happened, so maybe Skye's presence would be able to keep them at bay.

"Since neither of us should sleep on the floor and you're being so stubborn..." Jemma swallowed a lump in her throat and pulled at a loose thread on the edge of the pillow. "Maybe we should just...both...sleep on the couch." She finally looked up so she'd be able to see Skye's reaction to her crazy suggestion.

Skye had been gazing down at the dark floor, but when her eyes finally traveled up to look at Jemma after her suggestion, she found herself searching for an answer just as the doctor was. Slowly, she lowered the pillow down from her chest, swallowing down another nervous response in the hopes that a more sure one would somehow bubble up instead.

"I…I guess that could work. Since _you're_ being so stubborn too," the brunette said quickly. She was beginning to get too tired to be stubborn enough to fight the girl, so she was glad that she had suggested what Skye herself had really been thinking the entire time. There was safety in numbers right? The closer they were then…the safer they would be.

Skye was fairly certain that didn't make any real sense, but it made sense enough in her head for her to put her pillow back onto the couch. Now, how were they supposed to go about it? Laying side by side would be hard. They couldn't have their backs to each other. They would certainly have to at least spoon one way or the other to both fit that way. She supposed someone could lay on the bottom and someone on the top, but that might hurt both of their wounds, so side by side seemed the best option. She tried to put back on her 'I'm a raptor hunter and I know how to survive the wilderness and I'm brave and protective' face.

"So, you can sleep on the inside if you want. I'll…I'll s-sleep on the outside," She stammered. She'd lost it. Jemma would still know she was nervous and Skye was thankful that she couldn't see her blush in the dark. "T-to protect you and stuff.."

"Yes... Um, alright." Jemma's hand traveled to the back of her neck and she was also glad it was too dark for them to really see each other, even with the flashlights, unless they shone them in each other's faces. Jemma was certain she was fine with sharing the couch, what made her anxious was that she didn't exactly know what Skye meant by her sleeping inside. Did she mean the inside of the couch...or the inside of them? It was probably the latter, Jemma was shorter and it just made sense by the way Skye was talking about protecting her that what she really meant was that Jemma could be the little spoon.

As ridiculous as it sounded, Jemma quickly realized that she would feel safer in Skye's arms, and the thought was both comforting and frighteningly new. She hadn't been in a serious relationship since before Jurassic World, so she hadn't really done this type of thing in a long time. There'd been Bobbi, of course, but that hadn't lasted long and they'd both agreed they made better friends.

Slowly, Jemma got up and moved over to the couch, dropping the pillow onto the armrest. After a great deal of effort, she turned off her light and carefully set it on the ground next to the backpack. She was glad they couldn't really see each other, it was less awkward this way. It wasn't often that she decided to curl up with someone on the first date. As she laid down, every muscle in her body felt stiff, but also incredibly relieved by finally being able to lie down after such a difficult, traumatizing day. She faced the back of the couch and pressed herself against it, trying as hard as humanly possible to give Skye enough room to fit without falling off.

Skye turned her own flashlight off and set it on the ground next to the couch for quick access. She stood there in the dark, hesitant for a moment before she finally willed her body to move. She lowered herself down on the couch and tucked herself neatly against Jemma's back. The couch was small, and they were both just barely on it, but the brunette relaxed quickly. The tension in her body left and she felt relief at finally laying down, her body giving in and recognizing just how tired she was.

The trainer still didn't know what to do with her hands, and she fumbled with them at her side for a minute before she sleepily draped one over Jemma's waist and held on tightly, both so she wouldn't fall back off the couch and also for obvious comfort purposes. Neither of them smelled good but Skye was so tired her nose didn't even notice. She chuckled to herself then, squeezing just a little as she did, "Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the gallimimus bite."

Jemma giggled a little bit at Skye's joke and finally settled into the couch, letting herself relax. It felt good to have Skye's body pressed up against her and her arm securely around her waist. It really did make her feel safe, so it hardly took any time at all for her to fall asleep.


	5. Mother of Raptors

Ward sauntered back into the control room after leaving when the helicopter returned to pretend to receive news about Coulson's employees, the scientist and the raptor handler. He told the three of Coulson's left in the control room that the helicopter had been looking for their friends just to please them, when really it had been looking for the Indominus rex. It had actually been found, which had been a pleasant surprise, and they managed to lure it back into the center of the wilderness so it would still be there when Ward began his plan to recapture it. Before he could do that, though, he had to inform everyone that the two women were "dead". Ward didn't doubt they were killed anyway, so he didn't think he was even telling too much of a lie.

As soon as he came back to the top of the steps, Trip, Bobbi, and Fitz stopped what they were doing and looked up at him, knowing the helicopter had returned.  
Fitz was nervous. He was more than nervous, he was terrified, because even though the helicopter had come back and Ward had returned to the control room, Jemma and Skye were not with him. His fists were clenched at his sides and he waited for whatever news Ward had.

"I'm sorry." Ward said as sympathetically as he could manage, though really he was tired of the child's play and wanted to get on with his scheme. "My team found your friends' bodies, they're dead. Simmons was crushed under rubble and Johnson was a little further away from the site, we assume Indominus must have killed her in some way but didn't eat her." Ward clasped his hands behind his back as he spoke.

They were all braced for bad news, but somehow even being prepared didn't make it any less terrible and earth shattering. Trip was leaned over the back of Fit's chair, grabbing his shoulders and squeezing them in some kind of semblance of comfort. His own teeth were clenched together as he sighed heavily, trying to take in the news. Bobbi was not as quiet, and promptly kicked one of the control panels she was leaning against, letting loose a string of curses before she turned back around and flared up at Ward.

"You brought them back right?! You didn't just leave their bodies out there?! So help me if you left the-" Trip caught the tall blonde by the shoulder, cutting her off as he stared pointedly at Ward for an answer. They all did.

Ward quickly weighed the options in his head. If he told them he had brought the bodies back, the three might insist on seeing them, but if he said he didn't bring them back, the three would be even more angry than if he hadn't sent a team at all, and he needed cooperation if his plan was going to work. Creating another obstacle wasn't an option.

"Of course. The bodies are elsewhere, being cleaned up. You wouldn't want to see them like this." He stared right at Bobbi, knowing she would be the hardest to keep quiet. "Memorial services will be held for them in the future, but all resources at the present need to be dedicated to putting an end to the I-Rex situation."

Fitz was in complete and utter shock. Ward's team had found his best friend, but not in the way he had been hoping. He thought back to their conversation over the phone and couldn't believe that it had been their last shared words. Jemma was dead, and he had basically seen it happen on video. It was hard to process, nearly impossible really, that he would never again work with Jemma on a project or spend a day off with her to just go the main park and people watch.

"I already have a plan formed and the first stages are being executed now." Ward was right about one thing, though, Fitz needed to mourn his best friend later and focus on destroying the creature that got her killed now. "My men are preparing the raptors to be brought here to Isla Nublar to hunt the Indominus rex. Once it is found, a large team will be prepared to subdue it." Ward informed them. Fitz didn't work with the raptors, but he was still furious Ward was using them. He knew is was a bad idea in the eyes of everyone he knew, including his deceased friends, and it made his blood boil that Ward still wasn't willing to just kill it.

"What? You can't bring the raptors here! There are still guests on the island!" Bobbi shouted, turning the rage of her grief into rage of disbelief against Ward. Trip was on the same level in an instant, turning from trying to comfort both himself and Fitz to look up at the man.

"You can't use the raptors to hunt the Indominus! You don't want them to stop the I-Rex, you want to release them for your own personal field test!" Trip shouted back. Both he and the blonde were upset and vehement in their rejection of Ward's latest idea. Both knew that Skye had been fighting Ward on this for years. He wanted them at the park, but they, like the Indominus, were both much too dangerous to be featured in Jurassic World, but now both dinosaur handlers were starting to get a hint that Ward probably didn't want them for showing purposes. He wanted them for something else, they just couldn't pinpoint it. If he really wanted the I-Rex down then he would send men after it with live ammunition with the intent to kill. Skye had advised it the moment she brought out of containment, and so had they, but here he was, still putting it off.

"You know Skye wouldn't want you to use the raptors. She doesn't them on this island, it's much too dangerous. You can't just go shitting on her wishes like that!" Trip shouted, moving up the stairs and confronting Ward about it. Bobbi was behind him in a second, nodding.

"If you release those raptors you'll be making the situation worse, not better!"

"Well Skye is dead, so her opinions become less and less relevant as the situation progresses." Ward snapped. He'd had enough of all the bickering, it had taken years to get to this point and now that Skye and Coulson weren't here to stop him, nothing would.

"The raptors will be released in the morning. It would be best if the three of you went back to your quarters until then." Ward had the final say, he left the control room before any of the three friends below were able to protest.

* * *

Jemma woke up slowly, gaining her senses back one at a time. The first thing she felt was Skye's arm still slung over her waist, gripping slightly harder than she had been when they'l fallen asleep. She could feel Skye's legs tangled with hers and if she wasn't mistaken, the taller woman's face was buried in her hair and pressed against her head.

Her cheeks flushed as she opened her eyes and was met with the deep crimson color of the couch cushion, probably the same color as her face. In any normal situation she would have waited for Skye to wake up, but they needed to get moving. Every minute they wasted was another person the I-rex could kill. She had no idea if Skye was a light or deep sleeper, so she wiggled and sat up a bit, twisting at the waist to look at her. The movement made the burn on her stomach sting a little bit and she righted herself.

"Skye, wake up." Jemma's new tactic was to roll over and prop herself up so she was facing Skye. She nudged her shoulder a little bit for emphasis.

Skye's eyes squinted, remaining shut as she gave a little groan at being bothered. She wasn't used to being shaken awake. She was more used to her blaring alarm clock or someone banging loudly on her door because she was late…because she had thrown her blaring alarm clock out of her trailer window. She hadn't been shaken awake by anyone in a very long time.

So of course, it took her a minute. She was groggy, and her vision blurry as she woke up, eyes having to adjust to the closeness of Jemma's face. It wasn't an unfamiliar scenario. She had woken up to other people in her bed before, granted it had been a very long time. She had some cute wispy comment all planned out…but then her vision focused completely.

She wasn't in her bed in her bungalow on Isla Sorna, she was on a ratty couch in the original Jurassic Park building in Jurassic World on Isla Nublar…and there was a forty foot tall prehistoric killing machine running around somewhere. The brunette let out a small, surprised sound before she quickly untangled her legs and when she did, slid from the couch and landed on the tile floor. She yelped a second time when she sat up, lifting the side of her shirt and looking down at her bandage. She could feel the wound had opened back up and a new blood stain was starting to seep through. It needed to be changed, Skye knew, but they didn't have time for that. It had already been a day and she needed to get Jemma to the control room.

She pulled her shirt back down and stood up quickly, grimacing as she did. The dullness of sleep had worn off and now her side hurt full force again now that there was nothing to distract her, like running from a dinosaur or finding food or the original creation lab. "We've probably already slept too late…w-we need to get moving. The sooner we get you to the control room the better. I-it's already been a day…" She was leaning over, trying to get the backpack in order but it was clear she wasn't functioning at 100%.

Skye's absence made Jemma feel cold, despite the fact that they had no air conditioning and were in a hot, humid jungle. She flinched when she heard Skye thump to the floor and sat up completely when the other woman checked her injury. It reminded her that she needed to change it, but Skye seemed hell bent on getting moving.

"Slow down, stop. A minute now to make you feel better is worth it if we can go faster the rest of the day." Jemma insisted. The real reason she wanted to take care of her wound was because she wanted to make sure Skye was ok, but she knew she needed to use logic to convince Skye to let her.

It didn't take as much time to wrangle Skye back into sitting down on the couch because they both knew it would end up happening anyway and it would only save time for Skye to give in now. Jemma got to work opening up the first aid kit and sitting on her legs next to the brunette. Skye was obedient and held up her shirt again like last time.

There was no time to think about how toned Skye's side and stomach were, though she did keep one hand on Skye's side while the other gently peeled off the previous gauze. Her skin was warm, but not the hot that meant she had an infection, so that was a good sign. It didn't take much time for her to reapply the disinfectant and pain relieving gel and fashion a new pad to tape over it. As soon as it was secure, she pulled away and began packing up her things so they could get a move on like Skye had wanted.

The brunette checked the doctor's handiwork before putting her shirt back down and adjusting her vest. She was glad she had listened to Jemma again, now that the gel was soothing her wound and keeping it numb, she wouldn't be bothered by it. It was then she remembered about the other girl's burn. They had forgotten about it last night and she was sure it probably needed some tending to as well.

"If we have time to patch me up then we have time to fix you too. Sit down, lets put something on that burn. I'm sure it will just itch and get worse if we leave it," Skye snatched the first aid kit from her and made the girl sit down. "Now, you can be stubborn like me and we can talk about it for ten minutes or," Skye opened up the container and got out the last of the disinfectant numbing gel, "or you can let me take care of yours and we can get out of here in five minutes?"

Jemma hadn't expected this. She'd expected Skye to be perfectly willing to keep going, not take her role and suddenly get her to sit down and do the same thing. She wanted to say no, to push away Skye's hands and get going. Her burn wasn't near as bad as Skye's injury was, and they only had limited supplies. There was only enough gel to either apply it to Jemma's burn or have enough for one more change of Skye's bandages. She would have preferred it go to Skye, but the look on her face told Jemma that she wasn't going to take it.

"Ok..." She said quietly. She could have put it on herself, but it seemed like the brunette was willing to do it for her. Slowly, almost like she wasn't actually sure she wanted to, she lifted up the front of her shirt and looked at her injury for the first time. The flashlight had been hot, but Jemma was surprised by the fact that it had actually left a circle of red, partially blistered skin in its wake. "It's really not that bad..." Jemma shrugged, though it was clear Skye wasn't really listening to her.

Satisfied, Skye lowered herself down onto her knees on the floor. She put the last of the gel on her fingers and gently touched it to the red circle on Jemma's skin, smoothing it out and making sure it was all covered. She was trying not to focus too much on her skin and focus more on the burn, but she was surprised to see the doctor had some time to her own middle. Not as much as herself, but enough for Skye to be impressed.

Her hand lingered against her skin just a little longer before she pulled away and took the last of the gauze and tape to make a bandage for the burn. Once she finished she pulled away, looking up to Jemma as she closed the first aid kit.

"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" Skye smiled and stood up, holding her hand out for Jemma to take it and stand up. "Let's go see if we can fix up one of those jeeps from the garage. That will get us back to the park in no time, and you to the control room," now satisfied that Jemma was well taken care of, she was more than willing to get up and go again.

Just like it was supposed to, the gel cooled Jemma's burn and she felt almost instant relief, glad Skye had decided to convince her to use it. The other woman's fingers were electrifying, and now Jemma knew why Skye had gotten so flustered because of it.

"I can't wait to get back to somewhere safe, with lots of people." Jemma agreed, pulling herself to her feet with the hand Skye offered her, stuffing the flashlights from the ground into the bag with the rest of their stuff, and slinging it over her shoulder as she followed Skye through the doorway into the garage. Even with the chaos and the mess that had been left behind, the room wasn't as terrifying when daylight was flooding in. That didn't mean the Indominus rex couldn't still come after them, so she kept a sharp eye and ear.

"I can keep a lookout while you try to fix one of these. Or I could just pass you the tools." Jemma joked. They approached the second jeep, the one that hadn't been smashed around by the killing machine the previous night.

"Think you can do both of those things?" Skye grinned and set her rifle down up on one of the tables covered in various junk. She proceeded then to roll up her sleeves as she moved over to the jeep. Feeling around under the tip of the hood with her hands, she pressed a lever there and lifted up the hood of the jeep and propped it open, taking a dissatisfied look underneath. She had found some keys hanging up on the wall and grabbed the pair that had the number corresponding to the jeep she was working on. The vehicle didn't crank, as expected, for it had been sitting way too long.

It took Skye close to fifteen minutes as she tinkered with everything, asking Jemma for a tool every now and then while she worked under the hood, before she moved to under the car entirely. She slid under, taking another ten minutes as she worked her way around before she came back up, greasier and dirtier than before she had gone under.

Somewhere during the process she had found a spare battery under some debris along the cabinets which had used to be on the wall and nearly an hour had passed before Skye shut the hood with a loud 'thud' and leapt up into the driver's seat, keys in hand. "Wish us luck…" She bit her lip and put the keys in the ignition, turning them and hearing some rattling before the engine began to screech. She stopped and then twisted again, the same awful sound coming out for just a moment before the jeep flared to life.

"Success!" Skye was beaming and she turned the car off again, leaping out of the jeep and rushing over to a very relieved looking Jemma. She was so happy that she planted a kiss to the doctor's dirty forehead as she passed her, collecting a few things and going over to the broken jeep the Indominus had wrecked and began to siphon the rest of the gas out of the tank. It had taken a while to fix it, but Skye was sure that the time they spent here would be saved three times over by having a vehicle to use to get through the rest of the forest. It was going to prove invaluable. Once she got as much gas out as she could, the brunette went back over to their jeep and filled the tank, throwing the rest of the gas in the container into the back in case they needed more. Never hurt to have a backup.

"Alright, hop in and let's get going!" Skye grinned and cranked the jeep back up, tapping the meter. The hand moved up to the full position. They were ready to go.

"You're a miracle worker." Jemma grinned, hopping into the jeep and tossing the backpack down between them. They would be back to the control room in no time, probably less than half an hour.

"We can let everyone know we're alright and finally put an end to this awful situation." Just the thought of everything going back to normal, or at least as close as possible, was something to look forward to. Even if the park was a mess and ended up getting shut down, she'd settle for being able to stay alive long enough to see it happen.

Skye pulled out of the garage, and Jemma's heart sped up a bit now that they were out in the open, but the jeep would insure that they got back to safety, and it even gave them a quicker escape if they were to run into any hostile creatures, one big, white, scaly one in particular.

Skye drove quickly, at a faster pace than Jemma herself would have chosen, but not so fast that it was dangerous and risked an accident. They both wanted their little adventure to be over, the only good thing that came out of it was whatever was now between them. Whatever it was, it was a whole lot better than the constant teasing, bickering, and arguing from before. Jemma had a feeling it was moving in an even greater direction already, though she also feared that it might all be over once they were safe. Maybe Skye had had a momentary lapse because she thought she was going to die.

Jemma tried not to think about it, she instead let herself enjoy the cool air on her face that whipped through her hair. It was dirty and gross and Jemma couldn't wait to get cleaned up once the I-Rex was either dead or contained, preferably the first. The only problem was that she didn't know how to actually defeat it.

"What are we going to do once we get there?"

"Well, hopefully I would say you deliver all the information about the Indominus to whoever is still left in the control room and we get trained professionals out here to kill it. No offense to the epitome of your creations, but I want it dead. It's a danger to everyone and I can't believe Ward even asked you to make it in the first place—he's fucking crazy," Skye rolled her eyes and focused on the road ahead, making sure to keep an eye out for roadblocks and listen for any sounds that a certain eight ton white dinosaur might be following them. As it was now, the road was clear and only the roar of the jeep and the normal jungle sounds surrounded them.

She really hadn't given much thought to the rest of the process. The brunette had been pretty solely focused on getting Jemma back to the control room so they could hopefully find a way to outsmart it and defeat it. She hadn't really thought out an actual plan. She could only hope that Mr. Coulson had begun the evacuation process and that there weren't twenty-two thousand guests on the island anymore. She doubted he would have already begun to evacuate the staff. Ward would probably have advised against it. The both of them seemed hell-bent to save the park and not just the people. To hell with the park. Skye wanted off this island and back to Isla Sorna and she wanted it now.

"The truth is, Skye, I'm not sure anything I know can help." Jemma sunk into her seat, trying not to make eye contact with the brunette. "Everyone seems to think there's some magic solution, but there isn't. If they want my information they can have it, but really all I can tell them is that without high power live ammunition, nothing is going to stop it. There is no weakness." She looked to Skye guiltily, finally spilling what she'd been thinking all along. Before she and Skye had whatever they had now, she was afraid to admit this because she feared the raptor handler wouldn't think she was an asset that needed to be protected anymore. This was much bigger than her now, though, and she couldn't lead everyone to believe that she knew how to fix this.

"Skye, what's that sound?" Jemma suddenly asked nervously before Skye could respond to her confession. It hadn't been her imagination, she was one hundred percent positive she'd heard a screech in the distance, along with the light sound of an engine other than their own. Skye had been focused on the road and Jemma's voice, so Jemma had been paying more attention to everything around them.

"There it is again. It's closer." She said urgently. She hadn't misheard. It was a screech, several screeches actually, and the roar of another jeep, along with another type of engine Jemma couldn't identify. There were people and dinosaurs out here.

"What? I didn't hear anything," Skye shook her head but when Jemma said she heard it again, she slowed the car to a stop so the engine was quieter and she listened. The smaller woman beside her looked nervous, but if it had been the Indominus, surely the both of them would have heard her. Her roar was so loud it was pretty hard to miss.

When another screech filled the air, the brunette froze, gripping the steering wheel like it was Ward's neck and she was choking the life out of him. "No he _fucking_ didn't," Skye released the wheel and turned around, scanning the tree line and back behind the road before she turned to look ahead of them. She couldn't see anything, but the noises were getting louder. Jemma would notice the girls face was getting red, her jaw was clenched and her hands balled into fists. Another call rang through the air around them and in that moment, Skye looked fed up. She spun around and reached down, jerking up the backpack and ripping it open, rummaging around inside until she pulled out the 3D print vocal chamber.

"Ward must have authorized the transfer of my raptors somehow. I bet he's using them to track down the Indominus," She spat it, like an insult as she opened the jeep door and leapt out, standing in the middle of the road. She didn't bother to shut the door back and the raptor trainer didn't think about any of the consequences. Skye was too pissed at this point. She pulled the device up to her mouth, adjusting her fingers over some of the openings and she gave a quiet test sound before she found the noise she wanted. Then she blew, and a series of 'barks' followed by some sort of gurgling sound came out. She repeated this noise several times until a similar, answering sound was heard in the distance.

Jemma was beginning to panic. It wasn't just that Skye was calling the raptors to them, she trusted the handler to keep them safe and had faith that Skye knew what she was doing, but it was the brunette's guess about what they were doing on Isla Nublar that had Jemma terrified.

"Skye, they can't use the raptors against the Indominus!" Jemma shouted over the calls, clambering into the driver's seat so she was close enough to be able to explain to Skye. The dinosaur didn't have a weak spot or a sure way to kill it, but of all the strategies anyone could possibly think of, sending raptors after it was the worst. It would basically be releasing the second most dangerous dinosaur on all of the islands and giving the I-Rex a team.

Skye didn't seem to be listening to her, she was too wrapped up in her rage and the communications with the raptors, but she had to tell her before anything else happened.

"Letting the raptors anywhere near the Indominus is an absolutely horrible idea because a large enough part of the I-Rex genome, large enough to affect its behavior, is made up of-" Jemma was cut off by the burst of the beta raptor, Natasha, from the underbrush. Wanda was right behind, Jemma somehow still recognized them from the occasional check-ups she was required to perform on them. She needed to tell Skye the information, but she knew she should be utterly silent now that the raptors were staring at them and Skye needed to get them under control.

"Don't make any noise and don't move," Skye held an open hand up towards the jeep so that Jemma would know to stay put. The first raptor had a black and blue streak starting from the tip of her nose and going all the way down her body to her tail, this was Natasha. She surged forward first, the second raptor, one with reddish markings down her back, followed right after her. They had strange devices strapped to their heads and it was making Skye angry to see them like this.

When they came forward, the raptor handler raised her hand she had been holding up to Jemma, up to them, telling them to stop. They were only a couple feet away from the jeep now, and even closer to Skye, who was trying to keep herself and the raptors calm despite how angry she was about them being here. Wanda was getting snappy and making noise, signaling to the others before Skye shushed her with a quick snap and two clicks of her tongue.

"Focus, Wanda. Stay still, good girl," the brunette took a few more steps forward, keeping her hand out for the two raptors to stay still. She wanted whatever they were wearing to come off. As she got closer, she could see that it had the Hydra Co. logo on the side and it made Skye grit her teeth. The raptors picked up on her agitation and began to hiss, but Skye checked herself and them and soon they had calmed again.

There was almost no space left between Skye and her beta, who she was now whispering too as she took both of her hands and began to move them slowly, palm open, up towards the side of her head. Natasha was keeping still, eyes not moving and fully focused on Skye, just like the trainer wanted. She managed to unhook the device and let it fall to the ground. Slowly, Skye removed her hands and backed up again. The blue and black raptor shook her head, adjusting now that the weight of the device was gone and she called out, barking. Jemma would see that the noise made the brunette smile. The sound meant that the raptor was satisfied, even happy, and Skye took that as a good sign. If she had her clicker she would have rewarded the behavior, but she didn't, so she made a clicking sound with her mouth instead.

Skye was about to do the same to Wanda , the red colored raptor, when three more raptors came rushing from the underbrush, one with yellow markings, one with green, and one with orange. When only Natasha and Wanda had shown up, Skye had been relieved, but now that the rest of her team was here she was angry again. Ward had sent for all of her raptors, and seeing the device on all of their heads made the girl want to scream.

Upon seeing their alpha, the other raptors rushed over and formed an arch around Skye and the jeep and she had to hold up both hands now to get them all to calm down. Natasha, Wanda, and Carol, the yellow raptor, were all apt to listen very well to her, but Skye knew that Gamora, the green raptor, and Jean, the orange raptor were both very headstrong and liked to do as they pleased. The majority of her attention went to them until a jeep came rushing through the underbrush and out onto the road. It startled all of them and the raptors quickly turned around to face the new jeep, hissing and screeching as they began to grow agitated and pace on their feet.

"Hey you! What are you doing?! You're interfering with a highly important mission," The driver of the other jeep, who both Skye and Jemma would notice had the Hydra Co. logo spread across the chest of his uniform, shouted to the trainer. Several other men in the jeep wore the same clothing and the one in the passenger seat stood up.

"I'm Skye Johnson and these are _my_ raptors! I did not authorize their transfer! What do you think you're doing with them?!"

"We got new authorization. We're going after the Indominus, so if you have a problem you better go and take it up with Mr. Ward yourself. We've got a mission to complete," The man in the passenger seat spat and reached into his pocket and pulled out some sort of controller and pressed a button.

All the raptors began to bark at once, except for Natasha who hissed, and they all shot off back into the woods. The beta remained, since Skye had not dismissed her and she didn't wear the Hydra Co. gear anymore, but the brunette clicked her tongue and the blue and black raptor shot off into the woods after her team.

The jeep pushed on after them, followed by two other vehicles that came out from the other side of the road and soon all three vehicles had disappeared back into the woods, the calls of the raptors getting quieter as they got further away. Skye was steaming as she bent over and picked up the device that had been hooked to Natasha's head and got back into the jeep and cranked it up, waiting for Jemma to move back into the passenger seat before she got into the driver's spot.

"Ward and I are going to have a very _very_ long discussion when we get back," Skye was gritting her teeth together again and driving quite a bit faster than she was before. She complained about Ward and all the possible ramifications during the rest of the ride, which was actually uneventful, not letting Jemma get a word in other than waiting to listen for her to agree.

It was only fifteen minutes before they pulled up to the perimeter wall and had to prove her they were before the guards would let the wide double doors open so they could continue down the dirt and gravel road. At least they were safely back inside the park walls now. It would be a smooth drive to the behind the scenes area to park and run to the Innovation Center where the control room was kept.

Every time Jemma opened her mouth, Skye cut her off with more angered complaints, so it Jemma couldn't get a word in edgewise about the Indominus having raptor DNA. She gave up around the time they entered the park and resolved to tell everyone once they got back to the control room and Skye had simmered down a bit. Her knowledge actually could help a bit in this instance, once she told Ward, he'd have to call off the raptors.

Skye practically skidded to a stop in the ancient vehicle once they'd reached the control room, and Jemma wasted no time in unbuckling and pushing open the door. Purely out of habit, Jemma reached for the blue back pack, but dropped it on the seat once she realized she didn't need it anymore. They were back to less limited supplies, people, and electricity, which made her relieved beyond belief, despite their current situation.

Jemma rushed after Skye, and it was weird to finally be running on flat land again. Once inside the main building, they both scrambled to make it to the control room. Their shoes made squeaking noises that echoed through the empty halls and when they finally reached the right door, Skye stopped and let Jemma pass. She swiped her identification over the scanner, but the light above the pad turned red and denied her access. An explicative escaped into the air under her breath she wiped the muddy, probably completely ruined lanyard against her equally muddy and ruined shirt. After another try, the light turned green and Jemma heard the lock slide out of place.

Making eye contact with Skye once more, she turned the handle and burst into the room, ready to confront Ward with Skye. Jemma had intended to do so, but Ward wasn't in sight, and Fitz was. She hadn't realized until now just how much she'd wanted to see him again. At the sound of the door, everyone in the room had turned to see who'd gotten in, and the eyes of Fitz, Trip, and even Bobbi widened like they'd seen a ghost.

"Simmons?" Fitz asked hesitantly, his voice more like a squeak. He sounded so scared, so unsure, and it made Jemma want to hug him. Nothing was between them now, though, so she ran down the steps and threw herself into his arms the second he'd stood up. Fitz was sobbing, which Jemma didn't really understand, and it made her cry too, but they were happy tears.

Jemma was sure she was gross and that none of them would have wanted to touch her in a normal situation, but Fitz held onto her so tightly and as soon as he let go Bobbi jerked her into another hug and held onto her tightly. That phone call had ended abruptly, but Jemma hadn't thought it warranted all of this.

"C'mon people, I work with raptors every day. You think I would let an oversized T-Rex eat us?" Skye asked with a big grin as she made her way into the control room with Jemma. The little scientist was already getting hugged by Bobbi by the time Trip reached her and wrapped his big arms around her in a tight hug.

"That's my girl! I knew it couldn't be true," the taller man laughed and smacked her on the back a few times before Skye managed to worm her way out of his grasp. She was glad that everyone was glad to see them, but they were all acting very strange.

"What couldn't be true?" The brunette glanced at Trip, whose mouth was shut in a fine line, trying to decide what to say, or how to say it. Bobbi spoke up before him though, letting Jemma go finally before she looked between the two of them.

"Ward told us you were dead. He had brought your bodies back and everything," The blonde carnivore handler explained, before the realization seemed to hit her along with the rest of them. "That lying, sneaking bastar-"

"Yeah, he's an asshole. We got it," Skye nodded and grabbed Trip, pulling him by the hand to the circle of their small group, "He sent the raptors out guys. He's gotten them from Isla Sorna. We ran into them on the way here. He's going to hunt the Indominus with them!" Skye shouted, her anger renewed now that Ward had gone behind her back and also lied to everyone and said that they were dead just so he could go on with his plan.

"Yeah we know! We tried to stop him but he shut us down pretty fast," Trip scowled, crossing his arms and shaking his head, "Someone else on your team signed off for it. I assume they were working for him the whole time. I'm sorry."

Jemma's level of anxiety began to rise again, even after her reunion with her friends, once she came to the conclusion that Ward wasn't here and the raptor hunt was continuing. Everyone was still going on with their conversations while Jemma tried to think of something, anything, that they could do to stop the raptor team from getting closer to the Indominus rex. Only Fitz seemed to notice her distress.

"Simmons, what is it?" He interrupted everyone else and finally gave Jemma an opportunity to explain her thoughts now that everyone had gone silent, staring at her. They were waiting for answers, and Jemma had been waiting to give them away.

"It doesn't matter how, but we need to stop those raptors before they find the I-Rex." Jemma said sternly, beginning to pace back and forth a few steps as she rambled. "A significant portion of the Indominus's DNA is made up of pieces from a strand of raptor DNA." Jemma finally threw the information out into the open so that no one was unaware. She was done compartmentalizing information, the system clearly didn't work. Just telling them this information wasn't going to help anyone, though, it was only the cause, its effect was the real issue. "When that team finds the Indominus rex, they aren't going to find a target, they're going to find a new alpha." Jemma delivered the news with a feeling of dread, and she watched as Fitz got to work attempting to track the raptors by the jeep following them.

"So you literally put the two worst dinosaur combinations that you could ever make, together, into one body," Skye looked down at Jemma, shaking her head, but then she sighed, "Ward, Ward, I know, I know. It wasn't your fault," Her hands flew to her head and she pulled her hair back, trying to think. Bobbi looked hard pressed for an answer too. Neither carnivore handler wanted to say what they were thinking.

Trip caught their looks though and he called them out on it. They didn't have any time to sit here and dilly dally and wait for the raptors to meet up with the Indominus. "What is it? Speak up, c'mon, I know you've got an idea."

Bobbi looked at Skye, who was also looking at her, before both of them turned to look at Trip, "We need to get the real alpha there to command them before they meet their new alpha." Bobbi was the first to speak up and she crossed her arms.

Skye nodded in agreement, "I already ran across them before. They've got Hydra Co. devices on their heads which no doubt help to control them, but Natasha and Wanda both listened to me before the person controlling them showed up. I removed Natasha's piece but I didn't get to the others. I think they'll listen to me long enough for me to get them off, if we get to them in time. Then I can lead them back to an empty paddock and we can contain them and deal with the Indominus another way."

Bobbi was already at the computer, punching in some numbers and an area on the park map on the big screen began to light up, "Paddock fourteen is empty. You can bring the raptors back here and we can be on standby to close the gate to lock them in."

"We still need to call professionals to come and take care of the Indominus. Ward's men aren't keen on killing it, but we need it dead. It's too big of a threat and too dangerous to keep alive. There are still guests on this island that haven't been picked up by the ferries. Staff too. We can't afford to let her roam around anymore," Trip chimed in and everyone nodded.

When Jemma said it didn't matter how the raptors were stopped, she definitely hadn't meant this. Skye had just gotten back to safety with her, and now she was planning on running back out there, directly towards the Indominus rex?

"Skye, you can't. If you don't catch up in time you're going to be killed!" Jemma exclaimed, though her voice sounded more like she was begging. "No offense, but do you really believe the raptors would see you as alpha over that monster?" She asked, not stopping her pacing. There had to be another way to stop them, she just hadn't thought about it yet.

"I have the coordinates." Fitz spoke up, sending his screen up onto the main one on the wall. Sure enough, a little red dot was moving across the map. Jemma wanted to be mad at him for helping Skye's crazy plot, but any other strategy they could come up with would probably need those coordinates anyway. When Jemma saw the look in Skye's eye, she knew the other woman had already made her decision. It was the same determined look she had on her face when she stopped to shoot at the I-Rex while they were running and again with the Triceratops, it was the one Jemma found fit to name the self-sacrificing look.

"Skye, please." She took a step closer and grabbed Skye's arm. She cared too much to just let her do this, they were already lucky to be alive and Jemma didn't want to push it.

Both of Bobbi's eyebrows were raised, arms crossed, watching the scene closely before she looked over at Trip. Trip was doing the same and the two of them didn't seem to understand what was going on. They had expected arguing, yelling…but none of that was happening. Skye was as silent as the grave, just staring at Jemma and Jemma was just staring at Skye. Where were the two women who had been fighting with each other nonstop? This was totally different and very confusing for the onlookers.

Skye didn't seem to notice them though. At this point she really wanted to listen to Jemma and let someone else go for them to deal with the entire situation a different way, but if she did, her raptors might get hurt and more people might get hurt in the process. She really wanted to stay. She liked this new thing between them, even if it was very different from before, but it was better. Still, it wasn't enough to stop her. She had to help, and the only way she knew how to was to catch up to the raptors and stop them before they met up with the Indominus and gave the eight ton creature an expert and intelligent team.

"I have to try. If the raptors follow the Indominus then a lot more people are going to get hurt than just with her alone. If I catch them before they find her, I can get them and bring them back," Skye cleared her throat and adjusted the rifle on her shoulder. "I'm going, Jemma," She said firmly and pulled her arm out of Jemma's grasp, only to use the same hand to grab her face and pull her close enough for Skye to crush their lips together. It was fast, not lasting more than a second or two, but it was rough. It was a desperate last kiss if anything.

Bobbi's mouth was hanging open in a half smile and she couldn't take her eyes away until she saw Trip from the other side of the pair pulling his fist down in the 'success' motion before nudging Fitz in the shoulder. Trip held out his hand, 'You owe me', he mouthed to the shorter man, while Bobbi continued to grin big.

"Keep the paddock open for me," The brunette's jaw clenched and she tore her eyes away from Jemma and moved past the group without looking at them and tore open the door to the control room and was gone in the next second.

"WOOOOW, girl," Trip whistled after and pat Jemma on the shoulder before turning to Fitz. Bobbi did the same before going over to the engineer and leaning down next to him, "Be ready to fork over that hundred little man."

"Stop that." Fitz muttered something inaudible as Jemma brushed off her friends' attentions and headed straight for a computer. She couldn't understand how they could possibly be focused on that single kiss when Skye was basically offering herself up as raptor food. There had to be something she could do, and if there wasn't she at least had to keep watch and make sure Skye was alright.

Jemma wasn't a computer genius, but neither was Ward, so it wasn't too difficult to find the feeds streaming the raptor's progress from the collars she'd seen on them earlier. She split the main screen and put all of the raptor feeds on it, ready to watch and hope that she saw Skye on the cameras before she saw the Indominus.

"We need to call in a helicopter of our own men, not Ward's, and dispatch it to that location." Jemma ordered, pointing to the map on Fitz's screen that showed where Ward's team was. "We all know Ward isn't going to use live ammunition and we need some of our own to follow him and make sure that the I-Rex gets put down if the raptors do find it." Jemma was going back into strategizing mode now, but her worry for Skye was still on the forefront of her mind as well. Bobbi picked up her phone and began making calls to work the only plan they had.


	6. The Birds and the Lizards

The only thing Skye had on her side now was that it was daylight, everything else would be left up to chance and whether or not the raptors found the Indominus before Skye found the raptors. Jemma just hoped she was lucky again.

"Don't be mad little man. You knew someone would have to lose," Trip laughed and continued to look over Fitz's shoulder. He wasn't one to work with computers. He worked better with dinosaurs than with technology, that's why he had gotten this job in the first place. He did see Jemma's annoyed and very nervous look though, which brought him back down to earth. He could collect his money later.

"She'll get there, Simmons. Don't worry. If anyone knows raptors it's my girl," he assured her.

Bobbi nodded in agreement, "She'll find them Jemma. We need to stay focused in here and come up with a plan. We can watch these feeds all day but it still won't help if Skye's plan works unless we have that team she asked for. We need our own men to go in there and blow this thing to kingdom come. We need to get into contact with Coulson. Without Ward breathing down his neck he will be easier to convince. The helicopter will be a few minutes, but it's on its way from Isla Sorna. It was transporting important staff to the island to be safe."

Trip nodded in agreement, "Evacuations aren't even done. The ferries to Costa Rica take forever, and we only have three. There is still a big heat signature coming from the tram station here leading to the docs. The Indominus will probably head that way eventually, since she sees thermal. She'll be drawn there. We need to stop her before that happens."

"Get Coulson on the line." Jemma demanded Fitz. She no longer had a phone, so he would have to call him for her while she activated the tracker on the helicopter so they could see its location. It was still far away, too far away to do anything if chaos erupted and Skye needed help.

After about half an hour, Jemma had gotten permission from Coulson to use whatever force necessary to kill the Indominus rex, and she had quickly gotten the information to the helicopter to pick up the pace and catch up with Ward's team and the raptors. There hadn't been any word from Skye, which had Jemma worried, but she knew the handler didn't have a way to contact her anyway. She'd know Skye was ok when she showed up on the raptor feeds and got everything under control. She had no doubt Skye could get the dinosaurs back to the paddock, but only if there was no interference from another raptor that was over thirty feet taller.

"Something's happening." Fitz's voice made Jemma's eyes snap up from the map on the desktop to the main screen, where the raptors had suddenly stopped moving. That wouldn't happen unless... they'd found their target. Jemma moved away from the desk so she could get a better view of the cameras, and her heart pounded in her ears. She recognized the face that emerged from the trees all too well. Just the sight of it made her hands begin to shake, and Fitz grabbed onto one of her shoulders to steady her.

"Skye's too late..." Jemma muttered, watching as the raptors and the I-Rex continued to stare at each other and soon began to make noises. It wasn't just the fact that the dinosaurs were communicating or that the raptors would become part of the Indominus rex's "pack" that made Jemma jump into action, it was the knowledge that Skye was still headed straight towards them.

One of the raptors changed directions, and everyone in the control room had one good look at the men of Ward's team before it lunged at them, quickly followed by the rest. Jemma flinched and she could see the flashes of guns firing and hear the shots.

"I have to do something, I have to go get Skye." Jemma pulled out of Fitz's grasp, picked up a spare tablet lying around, and ran for the door. She knew it was irrational to go chasing after her and she probably wouldn't catch Skye before she got to the chaos, but she needed to be able to get her out of there. A hand caught her arm and Jemma tried to jerk away, but it gripped even more tightly and whirled her around. "Don't try to stop me." Jemma hissed threateningly. It would take a lot more than one of her friends to keep her from going to get Skye, who felt a lot more important right now.

"I'm not trying to stop you. I'm coming with you." Bobbi said sternly. The blonde knew, based off of what she'd seen, that something had changed between the two women. They were both her friends, and after how she felt when she thought they were both dead, if there was something she could do to save either one of them, she was willing. Bobbi used her ID to open up a cabinet full of guns, there was one in almost every important post in the park, and she picked a rather large one.

"You two keep everything handled here." Jemma called behind her as Bobbi finished and they headed for the exit. Fitz looked like he wanted to stop her, but after seeing the way Jemma responded to Bobbi, he didn't think he'd have much of a say anyway.

The first thing Jemma grabbed was the key to one of the newer jeeps, and she and Bobbi both rushed back into the parking lot. While the taller woman headed straight for the vehicle they now had the key to, Jemma ran back to the old one, which she was thankful Skye hadn't used, and grabbed the blue backpack. Bobbi gave her a skeptically look, but she would be thanking her if they ended up getting stuck in the jungle and ended up needing the water or what meager supplies were left.

Jemma was up in the driver's seat in an instant, turning the ignition and speeding away. Bobbi had taken the tablet and pulled up a map with the tracker on the Ward's jeep, though she doubted that was where anyone actually was anymore. All she knew was that Skye was following that dot, so that's where she'd have to go to find her.

* * *

Skye had taken a four wheeler, assuming it would be easier to drive through all the jungle underbrush in, and she had been correct. She was quickly gaining on the coordinates Fitz had posted up on the larger screen, tracking Ward's jeep with its gps mounted up onto the center of the handle bars showing her the way.

She was only about a hundred yards away when she brought the vehicle to a stop, having heard something she thought was a gunshot. When the engine quieted and the brunette listened more, her first thoughts were confirmed and she felt her chest tighten with dread and anticipation. She was too late. If they were shooting that meant they had found the indominus first, and who knew what was going on.

There was an even louder boom and a flash of light over the treetops, followed by a cloud of smoke. The explosion had been large, but the roar that followed let Skye know that whatever it was that Ward's men had brought hadn't worked to subdue the large creature. She quickly cranked the four wheeler back up and shot off, still determined to head in that direction. If she didn't at least try to take the raptors back then everything could only get worse. She was still a raptor trainer, and she needed to do her job.

As the raptor trainer grew closer and closer she could hear screams. Fifty yards. The jungle foliage was still so thick she could hardly see anything, even with the midday sun shining down, not a lot of light penetrated the canopy. Thirty yards. Skye was so focused on getting to the destination to try and help that she didn't see what was coming from her right. By the time she looked her hands flew from the handle bars and one arm moved up to shield her face until three hundred pounds of velociraptor was slamming into her body and knocking her off of the four wheeler, sending both of them tumbling into the dirt and grass.

The raptor, which Skye hadn't been able to identify in the rush, had caught her arm in its mouth, but thankfully had let go when they fell. Skye ignored the series of puncture wounds as she scrambled up to her feet, moving to get her rifle from around her shoulder when the raptor jumped up and regained its senses. Skye saw the familiar blue and black markings and she let the rifle stay where it was and she put her hands out to tell Natasha to stop. The creature hissed loudly, sending a chill up Skye's spin, but it listened.

Gunshots and men screaming filled the background but Skye had to keep herself focused. She knew the dinosaur could smell the blood from the wound she had caused by the way the raptor kept her nose in the air, sniffing and hissing. If she could get her beta to listen, the other raptors would be more apt to follow her again as well. She was trying the same exercise from before, where she went to reach for Natasha's face to comfort her and reestablish that bond, but a loud call caught them both by surprise. The Indominus was barking like a raptor and the sound echoed over the treetops and though the forest.

Natasha hissed and snapped again, just barely missing Skye's hand as she jerked it away before the raptor dashed back off into the woods after her new alpha. "Damnit!" Skye kicked a rock by her foot hard and it went crashing into a tree before she whirled around and began looking for the four wheeler. When she found it, it was wrecked, smashed up against a tree, the gps busted along with it. She would have to go it on foot and with her phone still dead from all the water damage she didn't have any way to tell everyone back in the control room where she was.

* * *

"If you drive any faster you're going to kill us!" Bobbi warned, gripping the side of the jeep and bracing herself as they went over another bump. Jemma didn't care how fast she was driving, she had to get to that dot on the map as soon as possible, she knew from experience that it wouldn't take long for the Indominus to kill everything within a mile radius. The sooner Skye was safe in the jeep and they were fleeing back to the control room, the better.

"We're getting close!" Bobbi shouted over the roar of the engine. They'd been hearing gunshots for a few minutes, but everything was silent now, and Jemma only slowed down to keep attention away from themselves now that everything was quiet. "Stop." Bobbi's command reached Jemma's ears and she quickly applied the brakes, slowing and eventually halting. They both took off their seat belts and hopped down to the ground at the same time. Bobbi tossed the tablet back into the jeep, it was useless without a signal and had only been used to show them where Ward's team had been last.

Despite everything that had happened to Jemma in the past day, she still didn't have much outdoor knowledge and she followed Bobbi's lead, chasing after a set of four wheeler tracks that went further into the undergrowth than the jeep would have been able to fit. They were still about a quarter of a mile from where the raptors had encountered the Indominus, but it was as close as they could get on the route they had chosen with their wide, bulky vehicle.

Bobbi had her gun ready, so Jemma pulled out one of the ICERs and activated it, holding it out in front of her like Bobbi was. It wouldn't do much against the Indominus and would probably only stop a raptor for a few minutes, but at least she'd be able to take out one of Ward's men if she ran into one. Maybe she'd even run into the bastard himself and be able to have the satisfaction of knocking him out and leaving him for a carnivore to find.

Apparently Jemma had keener ears than everyone else, because she heard the screech before Bobbi did and she whirled around, wielding her gun, but nothing was there but trees. It didn't sound like a raptor, and Bobbi knew this as well. They were both on edge, standing back to back now and looking for whatever it was that had made that sound. Assuming it was something on the ground, neither of them had thought to look up until a shadow passed over them, and by then it was too late.

Jemma let out a shriek of her own when a winged dinosaur dove down on her, knocking her to the side and smashing Bobbi with one of its chaotically flapping wings. Jemma reached for the ICER that had been knocked out of her hands, but it was just out of her reach and what must have been a dinosaur from the aviary wrapped its feet around her arm and began to pull her upwards. Bobbi was quick on her feet and shot at it just before Jemma's feet left the ground, sending her toppling back to her knees with the body of the dead bird-like dinosaur coming down with her.

The shot rang out into the air, and apparently more of the dinosaurs had heard it because they came flocking in the air above. They must have realized what had happened, and they weren't happy about it. Jemma clambered about and grabbed her gun just in time to turn around and shoot another one that had been about to dive at her. Bobbi was busy shooting her own attackers, it seemed like there were an infinite amount of them.

"The Indominus rex must have gotten the aviary! Run, find Skye!" Bobbi ordered her. Jemma didn't like the idea of leaving Bobbi behind, but her gun was a lot more powerful and unless they split up, they'd be here forever trying to defeat all of the dinosaurs swarming them and Skye would be left to fend for herself against whatever horrors were out there. Bobbi trained the mosasaurus, surely she could handle a flying rat of a dinosaur.

Jemma nodded and took off deeper into the trees, occasionally shooting behind her at a stray and following the tracks. It only took a minute or two before she caught sight of the four wheeler ahead, and Jemma got excited for only a moment before she reached it and Skye wasn't there.

"Skye?" She called out. She didn't yell for fear of attracting a predator, but she spoke loudly enough for the brunette to be able to hear her if she was still nearby. Jemma's eyes wandered back down to Skye's chosen form of transport, searching for any possible clue to where she had gone, but she found a clue she definitely hadn't wanted to find. Her eyes welled up with tears and she covered her mouth with her hand as she backed away. There were splotches of blood splattered on the seat, and heavy claw marks on the metal. One of the raptors had gotten to her and under the control of the I-Rex, Skye hadn't been able to control it.

Still, the raptors were no Indominuses, Skye wouldn't have disappeared entirely, if she had been killed here there would still be a body, or a trace... something. She still had hope, but she was terrified that Skye was out there somewhere, bleeding and attracting the attentions of the other raptors.

"Skye?" Jemma hissed again, holding up her gun and walking in the direction a few drops of blood on the ground were leading. It was easy for even Jemma to track Skye, there were traces of blood, footprints, and broken branches everywhere. _She's being careless... that means she's hurt._ That much was obvious though, by the blood, but Jemma had been hoping that it wasn't all Skye's blood or that her injury wasn't very serious. There weren't too many supplies left in her backpack, she wasn't sure how much she would be able to do.

Jemma picked up the pace, jogging now, so she would be able to catch up. She didn't have time to think about the fact that her steps were breaking twigs and making a racket, she just needed to find Skye, make sure she was ok, and get her back to the jeep before Bobbi lost to the birds or tried to come looking and go in a different direction.

Skye had almost had her own run in with the flying dinosaurs, having not heard them till several _whooshed_ by above the tree tops. The raptor trainer ducked down under some bushes, hiding herself as best she could. She had taken that opportunity to take some dirt from the ground and rub it on her arm, hopefully mostly covering the smell of blood she was leaving behind her. It didn't stop it completely, and it stung, but it did the job and the flying beasts passed over her without detection.

Raptors were hard to track. They were fast and agile and they knew their way around the woods, but the Indominus was big and although very intelligent, she left an easy trail to follow. Large foot prints, broken trees and branches everywhere in her wake, so that was what Skye followed. Her ears were so strained for noise that when she heard the first sign of steps behind her she tugged her rifle down and stopped dead in her tracks. She would be hard pressed to convince her raptors to listen to her, but she still had to try.

She heard more foot falls and branches and brush moving and she got down on one knee, steadying herself for a good shot. If it was a raptor and it charged at her, she would only get one and she would need to make it count. Her arm was straining from the effort, but she cocked the rifle anyway and waited, finger on the trigger, but it quickly pulled away when a very familiar scientist burst through the foliage instead of a carnivorous dinosaur.

Skye threw the rifle down and stood quickly, eyes wide as a series of emotions flooded over her. "Jemma?!" It was a harsh whisper, but enough to get her attention, and the raptor trainer raced over to her and grabbed her arm firmly, partly because she was angry that the girl was here when she could be safe in the control room and partly because she needed the physical contact to make sure blood loss wasn't playing tricks on her.

"W-what are you doing out here? Why did you leave the control room? It's dangerous out here! I took you there so you would be safe and you wouldn't have to be out here!" She was angry, or at least that was all that Jemma was going to see. Skye was also relieved and very happy to see her, although she was upset she had put herself in harm's way like this to come and get her. "The indominus is the raptor's new alpha. You can't be out here, Jemma."

Jemma was shocked by Skye's anger, she hadn't expected such a negative reaction. It was almost like the old Skye was here just ready to yell at her for every little thing, but she was still glad she had come. It appeared as though Skye wasn't going to give up going after the raptors, even though there was no hope. She had continued to go on even though there was blood on the four wheeler... that's right. There was blood, Skye was injured.

Skye didn't even receive a reply, Jemma was too busy searching for the source, which wasn't difficult to find, since the bloody limb was currently grabbing onto her arm.

"Skye, what happened?!" Jemma asked, grabbing the other woman's wrist and pulling it away from her arm. It was covered in mud, obviously a tactic meant to keep away the raptors, but it could also infect her wound. She reached for the bag, switching her gun for a bottle of water and dumping it all over Skye's arm, wiping the brown and red liquid away with her free hand. She didn't wait for Skye to say anything else or try to stop her, they needed to get back.

"Bobbi is waiting with a jeep not too far from here, we came to come find you and bring you back to the control room. Last I was aware Coulson authorized live ammunition and a helicopter was headed for the I-Rex. We need to go, now." Jemma said sternly, grabbing Skye's rifle and shoving it into her arms as she pulled Skye back in the direction she came by the wrist of the handler's good arm.

"Woah, woah," Skye slipped out of Jemma's grip and shook her wet arm off, which was now starting to bleed a little more since the scientist had washed all the mud away. "I'm not leaving. I came to get my raptors and that's what I'm going to do. This isn't their fault. They don't deserve to get shot down because Ward thought using them like this would be a good idea. No," Skye shook her head and adjusted the rifle back onto her shoulder.

"If one of us needs to go back, it's you. No offense but you don't exactly have raptor survival skills, that's _why_ I left you in the control room," Skye hissed and turned to continue in the direction she had come, but she stopped short. Something had moved ahead in the bushes. The raptor handler didn't even say anything, she just pulled her gun back down and held it ready.

"Stop talking. Don't panic," She ordered quickly and took a step back closer to Jemma as the bushes to the left of them shook. "Stay close to me…they'll try to pick one of us off if we separate," Skye advised again and she made a clicking sound with her tongue.

She got a hiss from the bush ahead of them as a response when a velociraptor with green markings stepped from the underbrush. The brunette kept one hand on the trigger of the gun, and then slowly took her other away from the rifle and held it out, palm open and out, facing the animal. "This is Gamora. She's super stubborn and never far from Jean," Skye whispered back to the doctor.

The raptor before them was there to hold their attention while another was supposed to strike, but Skye knew this and so she made another noise with her mouth before speaking a little louder.

"Jean, I know you're _fucking_ hiding so come out. You're not gonna play this hide and seek shit with me," Her eyes darted over to the bush on the left and slowly the raptor with orange markings answered her call with a hiss of her own. She kept her arm out, keeping the two raptors at bay while they barked and spoke to each other.

"Jemma, I need you to slowly, _slowly_ reach into that bag and get the vocal chamber. I don't have my clicker and I don't have any food so we need a distraction," Skye started but before Jemma could react the raptors had finished 'talking' and Gamora had lunged forward, mouth open and poised to attack. Skye didn't hesitate. She couldn't afford to, and her finger pulled the trigger. Gamora fell dead in front of her after such a close range shot and Jean went after them.

Skye didn't have time to cock the gun again and aim, so she grabbed the barrel and slung the rifle around and hit the dinosaur square in the jaw with the stock of the gun. It caused the dinosaur to stumble to the side, discombobulated. It was clear that trying to win them over wasn't going to work right now.

"Run!" Skye shot around and pushed Jemma forward back the way she had come in hopes that they could race to the jeep and somehow make a speedy getaway.

Jemma could still feel the sting of Skye's words and the way she was angry Jemma came for her, but she also knew now was the worst possible time to be offended and that every bit of her energy needed to be put into running. They weren't fast enough, Jemma knew this. They had escaped from the Indominus because the massive beast had trouble getting through the thick jungle, but the raptor had the advantage here. It was fast and agile and out for blood, since Skye had been forced to kill its friend.

This was much different than running from the Indominus rex, because of the raptor's small size, it could chase them and keep them from knowing its position at the same time. When Jemma glanced over her shoulder, there was no sign of the dinosaur, but that didn't mean it wasn't still there somewhere, about to pounce on one of them any second. When Jemma straightened herself and looked forward again, she skidded to a stop and grabbed onto Skye, forcing her to do the same. Jean was right between them and the four wheeler, cutting off their path to get back to Bobbi and the jeep as well.

Jemma turned around and jerked Skye the other way, convincing her to run before she tried to re-establish her dominance over the raptor even though it would never work. Jemma knew they wouldn't last much longer, the raptor was too fast and too smart, it would catch them eventually. They kept going for what seemed like forever, and Jemma just knew they were getting lost and far from Bobbi and their means of escape. As they ran, Jemma held the backpack in front of her and dug around for the second ICER. Once she had both of them, she secured the straps where they belonged on her shoulders and held one gun in each hand. Skye seemed to think Jemma was incompetent, but she was going to prove her wrong.

Jerking out of Skye's grasp, Jemma stopped and dug her heels into the ground, staring as the sprinting raptor screeched and prepared to lunge at her. By the time Skye realized Jemma had gotten away from her, the two seconds it took for Jean to catch up had passed. Jemma was well aware that she wasn't a good shot, so she waited until the dinosaur was upon her, back legs pushing at the ground, prepared to strike. She pulled both triggers and Jean fell to the ground mid-pounce, out cold from the double shot of dendrotoxin. She threw a glare in Skye's direction that was daring her to say she wasn't capable of handling herself.

Skye knew she had been afraid when running from Indominus Rex in the paddock, and when she had hid under the car hoping she wouldn't find her, and when they had run from her the second time, and when they had run from the triceratops. She felt fear when the Indominus had found them in the garage and she had felt it when Natasha had pummeled her off of the four wheeler, and especially when Gamora had lunged at them and they began to run again. However, Skye was fairly certain that watching Jean lunge at Jemma took the cake.

It happened so quickly that Skye's brain still hadn't processed that the dinosaur was laying passed out in the grass instead of eating at the smaller woman's insides. She stared wide eyed at the raptor for a long moment, because even though it had happened quickly, it had been slow enough for the girl to have a small heart attack. In her eyes, the second she had to turn around after realizing Jemma had pulled away from her, she had seen Jean attack. She _knew_ in that moment, that Jemma was going to die. Except she hadn't. They were both standing there, perfectly well, and Skye let out the biggest held breath she had ever held. She looked over to the doctor, who still had the two ICERs in her hands and after a moment, nodded, very quickly, up and down, fear still evident on her face since it hadn't faded yet.

"I-I would like to apologize for my previous comment…over dinner and drinks…far away from this island…if you think you would like something like that," Skye stammered and slowly moved over to her, taking her hand up again and looking her over to make sure that she really was standing there in front of her. Her adrenaline was fading and the stinging in her arm continued and really, to be honest, she felt a little bit dizzy.

Jemma was feeling the adrenaline as well, she hadn't actually been one hundred percent positive that she would have hit the raptor, so she was feeling very lucky to be in one piece right now, and very glad that the jerk in Skye had receded again. She opened her mouth to tell Skye that she would very much enjoy that, but a shadow passed over them, silencing her. There was another. And another.

"Oh bloody hell, not again!" Jemma cried out, pushing Skye further into the trees and further still from where Bobbi was with the jeep. The winged dinosaurs kept dive bombing at them and Jemma fired blindly behind her, occasionally hitting a mark. There were overwhelming amounts of them, and Jemma could only imagine what kind of hell they were causing on the populated part of the island the visitors that had yet to evacuate. She wasn't even sure Bobbi was still there, she may have been forced to make her way back to the control room to avoid being snatched up by one of the flying monsters.

Skye's rifle was not easy to shoot such quick rounds with, so Jemma was the one doing most of the gunfire while they both ran deeper and deeper into the trees, hoping to eventually be too shielded by foliage for the dinosaurs to try attacking them. It had only been a second that Jemma just ran without trying to shoot one of them down, and a particularly large pterodactyl mixed with other species found a break in the trees and dove at them, snapping with its beak and catching the first available object, which just so happened to be Jemma's backpack.

As the beast reversed directions and furiously flapped its powerful wings to pull upwards, Jemma was stopped short and pulled backwards, away from Skye. She let out a shriek when she could no longer feel the ground beneath her and realized with panic that she'd dropped one of the ICERs. It was hard for her to twist around in the straps of the blue bag, but she managed to shoot behind her and only realized that wasn't such a great idea either when she came crashing to the ground. Every part of her body ached, but her instincts were also screaming for her to get up and run, so she did, but not before grabbing the second gun.

"I'm fine, keep going!" Jemma scrambled to her feet and shouted to Skye, who had stopped running and still had a look of shock on her face. "Go, go, go!" She yelled, feeling a sense of reversed déjà vu from when Skye had tried to get her to jump off the top of the waterfall.

Unlike the time at the waterfall however, Skye did not wait to be tackled, and when Jemma told her to go, she turned right back around and ran. The trees were getting thicker and it was harder for the larger birds to maneuver between the thick logs and hanging foliage. The little ones though, with big heads full of teeth and long tails that looked like it belonged to a lion were still chasing them and snapping at them.

Skye was very surprised, very appreciative, and also amazingly very turned on by this new Jemma who suddenly just seemed to appear. It was like an alternative personality almost, but the raptor trainer didn't mind. This version of the little doctor knew how to get shit done, and she liked it. She liked it a lot. She was turning out to be very different from the damsel in distress Skye had pulled into the woods with her the day before.

They kept running and suddenly they stumbled out of the trees and onto a dirt path. It only took a moment for Skye to recognize the tire marks still in the dried mud and she tugged Jemma to the left and down the road. Some trees still hung over the road, leaving some obstacles for the larger birds, but now they were more in the open and those that still pursued them got closer and closer. "This leads to the garage! It's the road we used yesterday!" Skye shouted and was thankful when the building came into view.

She cocked her weapon one more time and turned and shot and one of the nasty little snappy ones fell into the dirt as they raced back into the trees and into the broken and rubble filled garage. "Get into the hallway! We need to shut the door!" Skye ordered again but the smaller girl was already on it, jumping over debris and moving into the hallway and shooting down the flying dinosaurs that followed them in with the ICERs. Skye scrambled inside and pushed Jemma down the darkened hallway till they reached a door, which she promptly opened and shoved the both of them inside, slamming it shut quickly. Gasping for air, Skye leaned against the doorway, feeling a thud and a kick or two at it and some angry squawking from behind before the aerial dinosaur gave up.  
"N-Nice moves there Indiana Jane..."

Jemma was leaning back against the wall, bent over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She'd dropped the ICERs and dumped her backpack onto the ground as soon as they were safe. Her eyes flew up to Skye's face and she smiled just a little bit, even though she was still slightly annoyed with her. It was clear that there was nothing the other woman could do about the raptors, but she had gone after them and the Indominus anyway, which was not a very smart thing to do.

"Are you glad... I came... now?" Jemma asked between deep breaths, knowing she'd won whatever little argument would have erupted in the jungle before the raptors attacked them. Skye's gun definitely couldn't have been reloaded fast enough to take down enough of the flying dinosaurs to save herself, she would have been overwhelmed and snatched up in no time. She only hoped Bobbi's choice of weapon had given her that ability. At this point, Bobbi had probably already changed positions, it had been too long for her to sit idly when so many dinosaurs were on the loose.

Honestly, Skye had been glad to see her when she had spotted Jemma in the woods, even though she had also been upset that she was there. She could feel both emotions at once right? Human beings were complicated. She was, however, very _very_ glad that the scientist had come and opened up her 'can of whoop ass' personality. It had really saved their skins.

"Don't even joke…You know I am," Skye breathed, still trying to calm her own self down before she managed to move away from the wall. She had left some blood stains against it where she had helped to brace it shut against the aerial dinosaurs. There was enough daylight coming in through the windows, occasionally darkened by the flying dinosaurs soaring overhead, for Skye to see they had arrived back in the breakroom. She chuckled a little and walked over to the couch, falling on it and sighing heavily as she let her body relax and the adrenaline drain away.

"Look, its home sweet home…" the brunette joked and let her arm hang off the side of the couch. It had stopped dripping at his point, which she figured was a good sign, but the water hadn't washed all of the dirt away and now that she wasn't focused on running she noticed it began to sting again. "Can you believe it, Natasha bit me. She charged me while I was on the four wheeler…I know that between that and Gamora and Jean attacking us I should know better…" Skye sighed, frowning, suddenly feeling guilty for having killed one of her beloved raptors, "but I know I can get them back on our side if I just try harder. I can't just throw away all my years of working with them…just like I know even though you created the I-Rex, you can't throw away all your years of gene splicing."

"I know." Jemma sighed as she made her way over to the couch, dragging the bag with her. She hadn't forgotten about Skye's injury, they'd just been too preoccupied to do anything about it up until now. "I really don't think there's much you can do at this point. I'm really sorry about Gamora, though, but that was necessary. You know she would have killed us both." Jemma kneeled down on the ground in front of the couch and motioned for Skye to hold out her arm. She did so obediently, knowing there was no way to get out of it.

Jemma wasn't conservative with their water, now that they were here in the old Jurassic Park building, they could fetch a few more bottles from the cafeteria. Another entire bottle went to cleaning up Skye's arm, and Jemma carefully washed off all the dirt and grime until it was clear exactly where the raptor's teeth had punctured her arm.

"Hold still." She ordered when she pulled out the medical kit, dumping the last of the alcohol onto Skye's forearm. They were out of the pain relieving gel, so unfortunately Skye was just going to have to ignore the stinging, but there wasn't much Jemma could do for her now. She also needed to bandage the entire lower portion of Skye's arm, but the dilemma was that only a small amount of gauze remained, not even enough to replace the bandage on Skye's side if they needed to.

There was only one solution, so Jemma followed through with her only idea without hesitation. swiftly, she unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off, leaving her in the tank top she usually wore beneath it. She often took off her over shirt while on outdoor runs to check on dinosaurs, so she was always prepared. It felt odd now, though, and she felt weirdly exposed in front of Skye, more so than she did with anyone else. None of this mattered though, her only focus was fixing Skye.

The shirt was dirty and probably not the most sterile of materials to make a bandage out of, but it would have to do. She soaked it with the last of the three water bottles and wrung it out, watching all the dirty water fall to the ground. Once it was as clean as it was going to get, she ripped it into strips and began wrapping it around Skye's arm, tying it off with knots. It wasn't the best way to bandage an injury, but it was better than leaving it exposed to the elements or having it continue to bleed and attract dinosaurs once they got moving again.

Her words stung just as much as the puncture wounds, but Skye knew that what she said was true. If she hadn't shot her raptor when she did then the both of them would be dead, just two more numbers on the rising death count in this mess. The brunette hadn't really been paying attention, zoned out and thinking about her raptors and how she would ever get them back under her control, or if she could do it at all. Her attempts with Natasha, Gamora, and Jean had all failed miserably. It had been a sheer miracle Jemma had been able to wait and hold off shooting Jean just in time to hit her with the ICER. It had been terrifying, and Skye remembered the very real fear of realizing she had almost lost the small doctor. Twice in fact, when she had again been too slow to act when Jemma was getting carried away by the pterodactyl.

Skye finally came back down to earth when she realized her arm was no long being tinkered with. It still stung, but the bandage would keep it from bleeding and from getting infected, except, when she looked at it, it wasn't the type of bandage she had been expecting. When she looked up to Jemma, to ask about it, her mouth hung open a little. There was plenty of time for the doctor to notice before the brunette shut it abruptly and scrambled to sit up, cradling the arm in her other hand, "Thanks…I feel uhm…I feel bad you had to use your shirt though. If I keep getting hurt like this you might run out of clothes," Skye chuckled awkwardly and tore her eyes away from Jemma's skin to look somewhere else…anywhere else.

"No but really…thanks for coming back for me. I probably wouldn't be alive without your quick thinking. Those birds would have carried me off or I would have been eaten by my own team," mission failed. The brunette's eyes wandered back and the rest of her apology caught in her throat as she looked at the scientist in the dim light.

"You would do the same for me." Jemma exhaled quietly, resting her hands on Skye's knees, squeezing lightly. She was sure that Skye would come after her if the situation had been reversed. Neither of them moved for a few moments, they just sat in slightly awkward silence. Jemma flinched when a dinosaur crashed into one of the windows, but they were so dirty that only a shadow was visible outside.

"We should probably try getting back to where I left Bobbi once the dinosaurs from the aviary leave." Jemma sighed, finally pushing down against Skye's legs and standing up. Her knees were sore from her crash landing earlier, so she sat down on the couch next to Skye and let their thighs press against each other. The physical touch seemed to comfort them both whenever there were carnivorous reptiles trying to get to them.

Now that it was quiet and they weren't in immediate danger, Jemma had time to think about whatever was going on between them. Skye kept offering her dates, so that had to mean something about the direction this was headed. Jemma was under the impression that this was something Skye wanted to continue, and not just a form of comfort during everything that was happening, and the brunette only made her even more sure as time passed. She glanced up at Skye's face beside her, and it was surprising that the first thing she wanted to do was kiss her. She hadn't felt this way in a long time, and she hadn't had anyone look at her like Skye did in a long time either. This was real, it wasn't just to cope with the threat of death.

Without much warning, Jemma gently cupped Skye's cheek and repositioned herself so that she was at an angle that was convenient for her intentions. She had to turn Skye's head to face her a little better, but their awkward positioning didn't matter once Jemma eagerly pressed her lips against Skye's. Maybe this wasn't the most appropriate time to be kissing her, but it felt right.

And it felt good. Skye did feel comforted when Jemma had pressed up against her a little more when first sitting on the couch, but the comfort had started to dissipate as the silence grew. She was getting more and more anxious and unsure of what to say or how to dissolve the silence but when she felt the smaller woman take her face into her hands and adjust them, everything spiked. By the time she felt Jemma's lips on hers again, Skye was readjusting herself, both hands grabbing onto her and pulled her closer.

She wanted more of her and all of a sudden she couldn't get enough. Her arm had bled a lot and she was pretty sure her dizziness from before was still lingering. She had almost lost Jemma twice and in such quick succession. She couldn't believe she was still here and that she had actually saved the both of them. The brunette had the doctor flush against her at this point and her hands didn't seem to have any intention of letting her slip away. After almost losing her twice, Skye was going to keep her right here. That wasn't going to happen again.

One hand was around Jemma's waist, pulling her in while the other was on the back of her neck, keeping their faces and lips together while the smaller woman's surprise kiss turned rough. She had been very happy to see her out in the woods. Even though she had left her in a safe place, she had the exact same 'I'm going if I want to' attitude. Skye liked that. She had thought her a dainty princess at the beginning but now Skye knew that Jemma could be just as much of a 'take no shit' girl as her. It was impressive. And it was hot.

There was also a need bubbling up and Skye found herself to be too hyped up now to try and stifle it, and her peppered kisses all over Jemma's sweet face soon found their way to her jawline and her neck and traveling lower without opposition.

Jemma didn't know exactly what response she had been expecting, but the one she got from Skye was surprising. It was a good kind of surprise, unlike all the scares they'd been getting recently. As Skye's mouth began to wander, Jemma felt her position getting uncomfortable and figured not much would be going too far now. She slid her leg over Skye's and got into a comfortable position sitting on her lap, straddling her legs and gripping at Skye's waist, careful to avoid the bandage. She knew they were only heating up as the seconds passed by, and Jemma was well aware of what was bound to happen if neither of them stopped it.

"Is-is this ok?" Jemma asked first, sliding her fingers slightly under the hem of Skye's shirt to let her know what she was talking about, even though she was sure Skye already knew. This was weird for her, usually she got to know another person very well before she did this, but something about Skye and the situation they were in made her bypass about fifteen different stages of dating. A shiver ran up Jemma's spine when her hands came into contact with hot skin and toned muscles, and she gripped Skye's uninjured side a little tighter under her shirt.

Skye wanted to roll her eyes, but she also smiled. Flying dinosaurs were outside trying to eat them and they had almost died multiple times today and yet here the doctor was, asking for permission. It was silly, almost pointless. Skye was used to this sort of thing. Go, go, go and take names later, but it occurred to her that Jemma wasn't really the type to just jump in.

"Keep going," the brunette reassured her and went the extra mile and arched into the smaller woman's touch, shivering as her hands reached her skin. Her hands pulled Jemma more into her lap, and she found herself leaning back against the armrest, bringing the doctor with her as her mouth found the girl's shoulder and kissed all the way down, pulling the straps there down with her as she went. Skye had a hand up the back of Jemma's tank, massaging its way up her back till skillful and quick fingers found the hook there and snapped it open.

Skye wasn't one to ask, so she didn't, and her hands were on grasping at Jemma's bare waist, riding up the tank while her mouth relocated to the smaller girl's to keep her from talking more. It wasn't that Jemma was ruining it, Skye thought it was cute that she had asked, but she was needy and after everything that happened today she wasn't going to waste any more time.

This was really happening. It finally struck Jemma that she was about to have sex with Skye when she felt her bra come loose, and her entire body stiffened for a moment as the brunette's hands moved up her sides. This was the same person that she'd been pining over and flustered about a week ago, and here they were, lying on a tiny, dirty couch in an abandoned building, screwing around while dinosaurs outside were wishing to eat them. Jemma wasn't the type to move quickly, and she had to ask herself if this was what she really wanted. She thought she felt a connection between herself and Bobbi before, they waited, and it turned out they both made better friends. What if it was the same case with Skye and she was about to make a big mistake?

It was weird and wrong on so many levels to think about Bobbi while kissing Skye, so she discarded the example during her quick thought process. This was different, though, it had to be. Skye wasn't like anyone else and Jemma's feelings for her were different than everyone she'd ever been with, she was sure of it. If that was the case and they could die any minute when they left this building, shouldn't she take it a step further and have everything before she lost it?

It was decided, and Jemma felt herself relax and mold into Skye's body. She tucked her hair behind her ears and out of the way before planting her hands on the armrest on either side of Skye's head, propping herself up above her and continuing the rougher kiss, gently tugging on the other woman's bottom lip, rocking into her slightly with her hips to let Skye know that she knew what she wanted, though she was still careful not to disturb the gauze bandage and the injury on Skye's side.

Jemma moved one of her hands and switched to holding herself up by her elbow, forcing her to press down on Skye's body. The hand she'd freed slowly slipped under Skye's shirt and slid upwards, pulling the taller woman's shirt up with it. Once the material was safely above Skye's injury, Jemma pulled away and sat up for just a moment so that she could pull away Skye's vest and yank her shirt over her head, though she went slow and carefully again when she pulled it over Skye's bitten forearm. The dirty garments were tossed to the side carelessly and landed on the floor in a heap.

Now that she had decided to do this, Jemma was fully invested and she leaned forward again, letting her nails scratch lightly at the skin just under Skye's bra.

"You have to let me know if you need to stop if one of your wounds hurts." Jemma said urgently before she crushed their lips together again, not waiting for permission to enter with her tongue. Her hands fumbled with the material left on Skye's upper body, and she was almost annoyed that Skye had chosen to wear a sports bra, since it was so much harder to get off of her. She improvised, though, and managed to get it off in the same manner as she did with her shirt. Her hands palmed Skye's breasts to start getting her worked up, though she could already tell it wasn't going to take much.

This time Skye did roll her eyes, but it was to roll them back as she moaned into the doctor's mouth. She had moved pretty quickly and the brunette needed to catch up. Teeth caught Jemma's bottom lip and bit down, pulling it out as the injured girl pulled away to stare at the smaller woman.

"You need to stop talking," to emphasize this point, Skye crushed their mouths back together, this time working her own tongue into Jemma's mouth. Her hands were quick, and she only broke the kiss to pull the doctor's tank top and bra over her head before throwing them haphazardly onto the floor. The brunette's hands immediately flew to her skin, rubbing and scratching up her back and over her shoulders before both slid to the other girl's chest. Hands squeezed and kneaded there before moving lower and pushing Jemma roughly off of her and back onto the couch cushions.

Skye leaned forward, following quickly and positioning herself between Jemma's legs, hands gripping at her thighs and pulling her closer. The brunette's hands slid down the doctor's legs to her feet and tugged the ridiculous heels off. She couldn't believe that she was still wearing them, but that was hardly the point now. Her hands worked their way back up her legs, tugging the skirt up before she pressed herself down against her. A hot wet tongue slid its way up Jemma's neck before Skye bit at her pulse point, sucking hard while she moved her hips down against Jemma's pelvis.

She was groaning and her hands kept wandering, too greedy and unsure of what they wanted the most. They gripped at her waist, scratched along her side, pinched and massaged her breasts before one settled for wrapping around the small of her back and pulling the doctor up to arch into her. Skye's fingers were playing at the hemline of Jemma's underwear, up under her skirt, slowly pulling it down, listening for any protests. When she didn't receive any, she tugged them down, not bothering to pull them all the way off before her hand was back up, teasing the inside of Jemma's thigh. Hot breath was against Jemma's ear before Skye kissed it, grinning and hungry, " _You can talk now_." The girl stopped her tickle teasing and emphasized her words as she slid a finger through the smaller woman's folds, rubbing briefly at her clit before circling and moving her fingers back down to continue rubbing everything else.

A steady moan clawed its way out of Jemma's throat and the arm Skye had wrapped around her didn't have to do much work in getting her to arch into Skye's body. She was already pushing down towards Skye's fingers, asking her to continue. There was no denying that she was just as needy and desperate as Skye was. Her hands reached up to grab at Skye's hair, fisting it in one hand and letting the other push loose, dark strands out of her face so she could press another needy kiss against her mouth.

Jemma had been surprised by Skye's sudden commands, and when Skye suddenly told her she could talk again when she was quickly losing her ability to think about her actions, she just said the first thing that came to mind, no matter how far it was from what Skye was expecting.

"Did you know that pterosaurs and pelycosaurs have shown that their elaborate head crests and sails were developed for the purpose of attracting mates? Their mating rituals are more involved than peacocks, which had been the most elaborate development of sexual selection up until that discovery." Jemma blurted out, cringing at herself. She'd never been this awkward in bed, but then again she'd never done anything like this either. Usually she waited long enough to have had a discussion with her partner about it beforehand and knew what to expect, but she and Skye were winging it.

To make up for her strange mess up, Jemma let her hands wander from Skye's head and move downwards, scratching lightly on the way and cupping both of the girl's breasts, pinching and rolling hardened buds between two fingers while simultaneously letting her mouth wander, nipping at Skye's jaw before moving on and pressing wet, sloppy kisses along her neck, occasionally biting there too. She was determined not to let the science part of her brain ruin this for her.

That definitely hadn't been the talk that the brunette had been expecting and Skye was in the middle of letting out a laugh before it turned midway into a moan when the doctor turned her attention to her breasts. It hadn't been what she was expecting, but it wasn't bad either and Skye found that she liked it very much. She had seen a lot of her bad ass side come out but first and foremost Jemma was a scientist and to hear her talk about what she loved reminded Skye of why she liked to see her in the lab. She was only mildly shocked to find that it was a turn on.

If she could only stop moaning long enough to tell her so. Since Jemma seemed to be holding herself up, Skye removed the hand from behind the girl's back and brought it to her chest, squeezing one of her breasts and rolling a nipple between her fingers. The brunette was enjoying the noises coming from Jemma but it wasn't currently what she wanted to hear. She enjoyed them, very much, but she wanted some more of her sputtering doctor. Her sputtering doctor would be even better if her brain was struggling, so the brunette made sure to step up her work beneath the girl's skirt.

Skye brought her wet fingers back up to circle around Jemma's clit again, moving a little faster and rubbing harder to scramble her brain. It was almost teasing until she slid two fingers into her core and began to rub inside against her walls while she palmed the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs. She listened as Jemma began to make more noise and Skye grinned, bringing her face up to kiss her more before she worked her way back towards Jemma's ear, "The _geek_ speak is working, _doctor_. Tell me more." She bit the smaller woman's ear and sped up her pace between her legs, starting to pump in and out of her, knowing it would make it harder for Jemma to think. Skye was having some trouble herself because she was thrusting her hips down against her hand to give herself a little more leverage. She was getting needy and she wanted Jemma to give her some too.

Jemma moaned in satisfaction and arched into Skye even more adamantly, using one arm behind her to push against the armrest and move herself into Skye's hand. She was more than surprised to hear that Skye not only tolerated her strange behavior, but was encouraging it. Science came almost as naturally to Jemma as breathing, so she wasn't about to restrain her random compulsion to spout out facts if it made Skye continue the ungodly things she was doing. Her thoughts were muddled and disorganized as a result of Skye's quick work on her, so she used the very first thing fact that came to mind when she tried to think of something Skye would find interesting.

"The velociraptor is very closely related to the modern bird... so many sections of your raptor's DNA... comes from a turkey." Jemma panted. Her breathing was erratic and she was fairly certain her legs were beginning to feel numb, so to test them out, she used them to pull Skye even closer. It wasn't long before Skye hit all of her sensitive spots and Jemma felt the coil in her abdomen finally spring loose, causing her to moan loudly and cling to Skye while she rode out the rest of her orgasm.

When the waves finally finished crashing around inside her and she regained control of her body, Jemma grinned wickedly and pushed Skye backwards in the same way the brunette had done to her before, quickly following after her. The first thing on Jemma's agenda was to pull off the few remaining clothes on her own body and toss them away. She then untied the laces on Skye's boots and yanked them off, letting them fall to the floor with a thump, and she climbed up Skye's body eagerly, stopping when she got just far enough to reach Skye's belt, which she quickly unbuckled. She made quick work of Skye's pants, unbuttoning them and pulling down the zipper, but not without giving Skye the attention she deserved as a reward for her actions a moment ago.

She placed light kisses on the skin of Skye's abdomen, just above the waistband of her jeans, and slowly trailed upwards, gradually increasing their strength until she was biting and sucking on the skin in the valley between the brunette's breasts.

"Another interesting reptile fact..." Jemma's hot breath fell over Skye's chest before she took up one of the pink mounds in her mouth, swirling her tongue around the bud and sucking, hard. "New Mexico Whiptail lizards are an entirely female species... they don't need fertilization from a male because they reproduce asexually.." She trailed off again, giving the same treatment to Skye's other nipple and pulling the taller woman's pants down over her hips. She only moved away so she could slide Skye's jeans and underwear down her legs and discard them on the ground, but then she returned, pressing herself flat against Skye and rubbing their bodies together during an all encompassing kiss to the other woman's mouth. "But they have sex anyway, just for _pleasure._ " Jemma finally finished her fact, sliding her fingers between Skye's wet folds and circling her clit with her thumb.

"Fuck."

The expletive was well deserved and the brunette's hips thrusted up eagerly to meet the other girl's hand. It had been a long time since someone else had been where Jemma was now. Training velociraptors and overseeing all the carnivores on an island twice the size of this one didn't exactly leave her with a lot of free time, but the doctor's work and the ridiculous yet somehow very sexy facts she was spewing out of her mouth helped. A lot.

A low, guttural moan escaped Skye's throat and she had to bite her lip to silence herself. If she was too loud the avian reptiles might hear them and circle back and then they would never get out. Although Skye was fairly certain she didn't want to leave any time soon, especially with Jemma working her expertly like she was just one of her computers back in the lab, pressing all the right buttons. "Mmm m-more," the brunette gasped out, using her hands now to grasp at the scientist's shoulders and wrap around her back, hands digging in to bring her down closer and to keep her there. The request was more for Jemma's hands but Skye wasn't going to mind more fun facts either, especially when the girl managed to make them so _sexy_. She didn't give a flying fuck about New Mexican lizards but if they fucked for pleasure, that was something she could relate to. She was turning into jelly. A melted wet pile of jelly in the doctor's hands. If she had been in less of a hurry, Skye might have been embarrassed how easily she let the smaller woman work her over. Normally she was the one in charge outside and inside of the bedroom. This didn't feel different though, it felt natural. It felt good.

Jemma grinned into another kiss, she liked having so much power over the other woman, since Skye had been nothing but an insistent leader the whole time. It was incredibly satisfying to hear her beg like that, to know that Skye wanted her badly enough to put aside any feelings of dominance and let herself be vulnerable for a moment.

The slickness between Skye's legs told Jemma all she needed to know about how excited Skye was, if her desperate plea hadn't been enough, and it had. Jemma began rocking against Skye's leg in anticipation as she cupped and squeezed Skye's breast with her free hand and continued her work with her mouth, nipping Skye's bottom lip hard enough to make it swell a little later and sliding her tongue across it to rectify the action.

"There are over eight _thousand_ nerve endings here." Jemma said quietly, pressing her thumb a little harder against the incredibly sensitive spot between Skye's legs. She expertly moved in slow, close circles and slowly sped up as Skye's noises got more desperate. "Not only that, but it affects another _fifteen thousand_ more in the area." Only when Jemma was sure Skye couldn't take it any longer based off of her noises of complaint, she finally gave the taller girl what she wanted. The two fingers that had been teasingly hovering over her entrance finally pushed inside, and Jemma didn't hesitate to begin pumping at a moderate pace. Having a PhD in anatomy tended to be something her sexual partners very much appreciated, and Jemma was going to make sure Skye got the same benefits. She knew just which angles to move her hand in to let her fingers rub against the most sensitive parts of Skye's walls, readjusting and adding more pressure whenever Skye seemed to be enjoying it the most. Jemma pressed her knee against the back of her hand, allowing her to push even deeper.

Once she was positive Skye was ready, she slipped in a third finger and continued her assault, now kissing down Skye's jaw as she made her way to her pulse point, sucking lightly.

"Tyrannosaurus rexes are notoriously known for biting each other while mating." Jemma whispered into Skye's ear before nipping her earlobe and moving back to her neck, catching skin between her teeth and biting sharply, planting a wet kiss over the purple mark as she continued working between Skye's legs with the aim of making them numb, even though that probably wasn't the best idea if they had to get up and keep running in a few minutes.

Skye was moaning loudly now, no longer caring to censor herself. Her hips were moving in rhythm with the scientist's fingers trying to get more as she thrust herself into them, groaning the entire time. Jemma's name came out loud and often in gasping breaths as the brunette grew closer and closer to the edge. Her science lesson was proving to be too much and when the other girl bit her neck, Skye was done.

Her hands clutched Jemma's back as she arched into her, kissing whatever skin she could find to keep her mouth shut, before her lips came in contact with Jemma's shoulder. Per her last comment, Skye bit, hard, moaning into her shoulder as her body began to shake and spasm, the building feeling Jemma had caused in her abdomen to burst. She held the scientist as close to her as possible, despite how hot it had become between them on top of how hot it already was.

Skye was sweaty and sticky, and her hair was sticking to her face while she still gasped, coming down from her orgasm. She had had a lot, with lots of people, but Skye wasn't sure if it was the amount of time between or the fact that Jemma's PhD in anatomy really paid off, but the brunette knew she hadn't felt this good in a really long time. Until her face grew red in the dark.

Now that she had come down, her face was flushed from the effort and from embarrassment. She couldn't even move. All she could do was lay there she was so worked and hope that the doctor didn't suddenly decide their little detour was a mistake. They had both enjoyed it, but Skye hadn't intended to rush things so much. She just got caught up between almost dying and almost losing the other girl twice. Everything was chaos. She wasn't sure how to act in this situation...especially since they were both naked and all over and tangled in each other.

"Uhm...n-nice bio lesson there, doc..." Skye tried to chuckle, to relieve some of the tension she was feeling, but it came out forced, which only made her feel like she had ruined things.

Jemma had enjoyed the quiet, still moment after she'd worked Skye over, when the only thing they could hear was each other's rapid breathing, but as soon as Skye spoke it was as if Jemma had just begun to realize what they'd done. They hardly knew each other, they'd been "dating" for less than a day, they were currently taking refuge from man-eating dinosaurs, and of all the things they could have been doing, they chose to have sex. They were both very, very naked and Jemma wasn't sure what she was supposed to do next. She was sure her face was a deep crimson and was glad that even though it was only late afternoon, the minimal number of small, dirty windows made it dim enough that they couldn't see each other clearly. She didn't know what to say, how to respond.

"The avian dinosaurs are gone." Jemma mumbled, scrambling off of Skye and untangling their limbs. Skye had sounded so unsure of herself, and Jemma wondered if she thought this whole thing was a mistake or that she didn't like her as much as she thought. Jemma had enjoyed it, a lot, but she definitely felt like their timing could have been better. It was the fact that she didn't know what Skye was thinking that made her worry.

"We should probably go find Bobbi and get back to the others..." Jemma stood up, feeling very hyperaware of how exposed she was, and sorted through the clothing on the ground, putting on what was hers and tossing the rest onto the couch for Skye.

When her dirty clothes smacked into her face in the dark, the brunette began to panic. Her heart sped up, but for all the wrong reasons as she frantically tried to scramble back into her clothes, trying to analyze Jemma's voice and her behavior at the same time. Skye had made a joke, hoping to lighten the mood but it was obvious she had made everything so much worse. The girl didn't even laugh. In fact she sounded close to horrified and Skye was fairly certain that wasn't how you were supposed to sound after earth shattering sex.

By the time she slung her vest back over her shoulders, the brunette was sure she had ruined everything. She knew they were in a rush, and yes, they had probably acted hastily, but that didn't mean they couldn't talk about it. Obviously they had skipped quite a few steps, and Skye was used to skipping them, or at least she had been. Still, she hadn't wanted to skip them with Jemma. Her nature had just sort of taken over and old habits did die hard. The floor could probably swallow her up at this point and she would be better off than she was now.

Her side stung and she was sure she had ripped open her wound from the day before but they didn't have any more gauze or gel to rub on it so trying to fix it at this point would just be fruitless...besides, Jemma had probably had enough of her body for a lifetime. Clearly she was in no mood for a repeat experience, ever.

"Yeah..." Skye finally answered as she tied her boots up after pulling them on. The scientist had slung them pretty far, but she tried not to think about it. The whole thing had turned into a quiet, awkward fiasco and it was making the raptor handler anxious and self conscious on so many levels she just wanted to get on and forget how badly she had just fucked everything up.

Once she was fully dressed she rubbed her neck, now sore from the bruised marks Jemma had left there, and so she popped her collar to hide them. The brunette found the rifle in the dark and slung it over her shoulder, heading towards the door quickly. "Let's get going then. Wasting daylight and all that..." She breathed and waited till Jemma had fully adjusted herself before she opened up the door. The trainer waited a few quiet seconds, checking the hallway before she deemed it safe and motioned for Jemma to follow her back into the garage. They could at least follow the road back to the park. It would just take longer and they would need to be extra careful. Hopefully the silence wouldn't kill them if nothing else came along to do it first. Skye didn't feel like she would particularly mind now, she already felt like an idiot and was so embarrassed she wanted to die. Why not have a raptor come and bring her full circle?


	7. More Teeth

The way Skye was so quick to move on and get going made Jemma ache a little bit inside, even though she was the one who had suggested it. Jemma had never decided to do this so quickly before, but it was starting to seem like it was something Skye had done often enough. Maybe she was the type to pick people up and have one night stands, Jemma really didn't know. The only things she truly knew about Skye was the little bit of her past, that she liked her job with the raptors, and that was usually plenty confident about herself.

She knew they would need to talk about what had happened eventually, but it didn't seem like the conversation would be held any time soon. She did open her mouth to speak, to possibly fix whatever was weird between them, but she wasn't sure how. Skye would never know she'd tried to say anything since Jemma was still following behind her in the hall. Once they got to the garage, though, and they were flooded with light again, Jemma hung back and kept her eyes on the ground. She was embarrassed about everything and the fact that she kept thinking about what it felt like to touch Skye, feel the way her skin had been hot underneath her fingertips.

The thought was quickly shaken away, replaced by the fact that she heard something outside, like the click of a gun cocking. Any awkward thoughts left her mind and she reached out, grabbing the back of Skye's shirt and pulling, stopping her from carelessly going around the corner. She hadn't been paying much attention, which Jemma thought was odd, but what was even more peculiar was that from the sound of it someone was ready to shoot them. It was ridiculous and Jemma hadn't thought to look out for people that would want to hurt them.

"Who's out there?" Jemma called out firmly, hoping it was just Bobbi being cautious. She slowly reached behind her and pulled an ICER out of her backpack, but someone finally emerged before she could activate it.

"Put the weapon down, Dr. Simmons." An angered voice commanded her. Jemma froze when she realized they were face to face with Ward, and he had a real gun pointed at them. Of course now was the time he chose to use lethal weapons.

Not having any other choice, Jemma bent over and dropped the stun gun onto the ground, kicking it over to him when he ordered her to.

"It's always the cockroaches that survive." Ward told them, tossing the ICER away outside, never letting the barrel of the gun point away from them.

"I would say so." Jemma scoffed, nodding her head in Ward's direction in a sudden burst of courage. She shut up and swallowed a lump of fear in her throat, however, when Ward took an angered step towards her and his finger quivered over the trigger.

"You too, Skye, drop the rifle." Ward ordered.

When Jemma had pulled her back and gotten out her ICER, Skye had pulled the rifle ready and cocked it, confused as to what the scientist had heard that she didn't. It was all super clear when Ward stepped from the treeline and the face Skye put on for his appearance was less than pleased.

"You're just going to waste your ammo on us when there are hundreds of dinosaurs out there just waiting to pick you off?" Skye challenged, not dropping her gun like the man commanded. Apparently that was a bad action choice because it just made the ex-military man even more angry and he took another few steps forward, pointing the barrel of his gun right at them with more urgency than before.

"Well I won't lack for ammunition when I take you two out and take your guns. I've got a helicopter to catch and a million dollar dinosaur to contain. I believe I pronounced you two dead yesterday, so you'll understand if I can't leave any loose ends. Now, _drop the rifle_ or the sweet doctor is first," The Hydra Co. employee adjusted the direction of the gun just so, now facing more towards Jemma.

This caused Skye to grit her teeth and raise both of her hands in the air, including the gun, "Woah, fine…calm down! We aren't going to give you any trouble, just leave us alone," She spat out quickly, trying to think of a plan. Working with raptors, the brunette was used to quick thinking and luckily all her previous practice had paid off. She had already _cocked_ the gun.

"Stop stalling and drop it!" Ward shouted, raising his gun into the air and firing a warning shot which made both of the women cringe before he had cocked it and pointed it back at them. He wanted her to drop it. Fine, Skye would drop it.

She quickly adjusted her hand and let the rifle drop. She only hoped her quick thinking plan had worked and the moment she let the rifle drop she turned and pushed Jemma down on the ground, ripping the bag off of her back at the same time. When the rifle hit the ground, the hammer hit the dirt, causing it to fire. The sound was enough to startle Ward, who jumped back, waiting to check to see if he had been hit.

Unfortunately for Skye, her plan had only worked halfway, but by the time the man had gotten over the shock a series of barking sounds followed by shrill howls echoed through the woods around them. Skye had the velociraptor vocal chamber up to her lips, blowing on it loudly in a call that the raptors would recognize as one of their own needing help. The brunette had already finished and was lowering the device when Ward brought his gun back up, "Why _you-_ "

"Better save that ammo, Ward!" The brunette smiled smugly, having positioned herself between the fallen doctor and the frantic man holding a gun to them. A series of answering calls rang out from the jungle and just by the look of him, Skye could see the man start to quiver. "Sounds like you're going to have some company. You know, raptors don't tend to be very forgiving."

The calls kept echoing around the woods, getting louder as they grew closer and it was shaking the man to the core as he began to frantically look in every direction, trying to spot the dinosaurs before they spotted him, still pointing the gun at the two women. Skye was gently trying to nudge Jemma back with her foot, telling her to get back into the garage while he was distracted.

"Maybe it won't be raptors at all, maybe your precious Indominus will come running, after all, she is part raptor isn't she? You asked for the biggest and baddest of all dinosaurs didn't you?" Another series of screeches and barks bounced off the trees until they stopped abruptly, cut off by the sound of more gunfire. Answering barks quickly resounded around the little glade they were in as a familiar black and blue raptor burst from the trees, screeching as she caught sight of Ward and her nostrils filled with the smell of blood.

The raptor vocal chamber dropped to the ground, cracking, as two more raptors came shooting out of the trees, one yellow and one red. Natasha, Wanda, and Carol made an arch around Ward, who had turned around quickly, pointing his empty gun at them as they hissed. Natasha was the first to step forward, snapping at Ward as he quickly tried to back up. A reinforcing click from Skye's tongue let the raptor know her actions were correct and soon the other two were backing the man up, snapping and hissing at him as Natasha had.

Having given them the reinforcement they needed, Skye let her focus go and she fell down onto her knees, hands clutching at her stomach as blood started to seep out through her shirt. The doctor would see the exit wound in Skye's back do the same. Ward's frantic shot had hit the mark, but like Skye had said, raptors weren't very forgiving and by the sound of the man's screams the raptor trainer had been correct.

Jemma had been confused at first, a lot had happened in only a minute and several shots had been fired. She hadn't known if anyone had been hit until Ward's screams forced her to figure out what exactly was going on, and her first priority was to make sure Skye was ok. She wasn't, though. After seeing the blood seeping through her clothes and her collapse to her knees, it was easy to come to the conclusion that Skye had been shot.

"Skye!" She shrieked, scrambling to her hands and knees and reaching Skye just in time to wrap an arm around her shoulders and catch her as she tilted and fell backwards.

"Skye, can you hear me?" Jemma held the other woman in her lap and shook her shoulder once before moving the hand that wasn't supporting Skye's back to press it firmly over Skye's abdomen. She tried to block out the sounds of the raptors tearing Ward to shreds and refused to look at them, only keeping her eyes on Skye's face. Warm, thick blood was seeping through Jemma's shaking fingers and she forced herself to apply more pressure despite Skye's agonized expression that clearly showed her pain.

Jemma's brain switched into doctor mode then, though it was difficult to stay impartial when it was Skye bleeding out in her arms. She carefully changed positions so that she could ease Skye down, letting her head rest on Jemma's lap so she had another free hand, since the first was and would continue to be occupied applying pressure to Skye's gunshot wound. She lightly gripped Skye's chin and checked for blood in her mouth. There wasn't any, which confirmed Jemma's hope that the bullet hadn't hit any vital organs. Based on the entrance wound's location, the bullet could have gone through without causing too much damage.

"It's ok, Skye, you're going to be alright." Jemma cried over the continued sounds of the raptors' kill, though she wasn't sure she was telling the truth. They were out in the middle of nowhere, and the only medical supplies Jemma had left was disinfectant, which would do little for an injury of this severity.

Suddenly, the horrible sounds that were sure to give her nightmares for months finally ended and Jemma looked up in fear, tear streaks tracked down her cheeks. All three of the raptors, having finished devouring their kill, which Jemma tried not to look at, had turned towards her and Skye on the ground. Panicked, she looked for the vocal chamber, but she didn't know how to use it and it was too far away. She could get the second ICER out of her bag, but she wouldn't be fast enough to shoot the three of them. She and Skye were both helpless, under the mercy of three killer dinosaurs.

Jemma held onto Skye and waited out the silence as the raptors looked back and forth between each other and Skye. Not knowing the animals as well as she did, Jemma assumed they were preparing to strike because of the blood, but she was very wrong. After a few shrill barks, the reptiles scattered back into the trees, leaving them alone. If Jemma hadn't been mistaken, it was like the animals decided to let them be because of...respect. Skye was their alpha once and without a kill order to attack her, it seemed that they were willing to let her live, especially after she had called them to a fun meal.

"Come on, stay with me, Skye." Jemma begged when Skye's eyelids began to droop, leaning over her body and not filtering her own sobs. "Don't you dare leave me now, not after everything." Jemma cried, holding the warm body in her arms even closer. It was ironic that after every dangerous encounter they'd survived, the one that might end up ending Skye's life was the only one they hadn't expected. With dinosaurs running rampant around the island, the last thing they would have predicted was having to fight another person.

It had only been a day, just a single day; Jemma wasn't ready to lose Skye like this. She didn't know where they stood with each other only minutes before, but if Skye died right here in her arms and she never got to know what could have been- it would kill her.

Just as Jemma began to plummet into a pit of despair, a familiar rumble of an engine sounded outside and a tall blonde armed with a large gun appeared in the garage. She'd tracked Ward's vehicle, which had been parked down the road about half a mile back.

"What the hell happened?" Bobbi asked, meaning to get an explanation about why Jemma never met her back at the jeep, but when her eyes found the almost bare human carcass and Skye's bloody form in Jemma's arms on the ground, her eyes widened. "What the _hell happened?!_ " She asked again, dropping the gun and rushing to Skye's side.

"Ward... he... he shot-" Jemma was interrupted by her own sobs and Bobbi nodded to let her know she understood and briefly looked back at the body now that she knew who it belonged to. The blonde was confused as to how it looked like Ward had been eaten alive but the two women were left alone, but that was the least of her worries at the moment.

"It's going to be ok, Jemma, just help me get Skye into the jeep." She said calmly. Bobbi was clearly better than Jemma in a crisis, so she took over the lead role and helped instruct Jemma on what to do. Carefully, Bobbi hooked her arms under Skye's and lifted her torso, and Jemma wrapped a firm arm around her legs as they carried her the few paces back to the vehicle outside. It was difficult to get Skye into the back without jostling her, but it was managed. Bobbi retrieved her gun and got back in the driver's seat, leaving Jemma in the back to comfort Skye, who was groaning in pain, a little more aware of her surroundings now as she drifted in and out of reality. Jemma continued applying pressure to the wound, even though she knew it was hurting her, but it had to be done.

"It's ok, Skye, we're headed back to the park, there's a medical wing there and I can fix you up." She tried to say calmly, though if Skye really could tell what was going on she would be able to know Jemma was still worried by the tears in her eyes.

"We're going to have to be vigilant, the park isn't safe." Bobbi called back as they sped down the road. Jemma listened intently, hoping her fears weren't correct. "The Indominus Rex is in the park." Bobbi informed her. After Jemma hadn't shown up at the jeep, she'd called the control room and updated them, also receiving the news about the white reptile's new location. It was being distracted by brave members of ACU units, but they wouldn't last long and eventually the dinosaur would go to the visitors down at the dock where the ferries were still pumping out civilians by the thousands.

"We have to go anyway. If we don't, Skye will- she'll die within the hour." Jemma pleaded, and Bobbi agreed without an argument. She was willing to risk everything if it meant saving one of her own. It was a quality Jemma admired in her and hadn't realized she'd had herself until everything had happened.

Their conversation died and Jemma spent the rest of the ride whispering comforting words and brushing the hair out of Skye's sweaty face. Each time they went over a bump, she braced the both of them so Skye wouldn't feel it as strongly, but the girl whimpered anyway.

When they finally arrived at the park and the abandoned main street, Bobbi slowed down and kept a watchful eye out for their monster friend. Jemma was fearful that the Indominus would smell Skye's blood and come for them, but so far the ride was silent and uneventful. A loud roar suddenly echoed over the buildings and the three of them would have felt vibrations if they had been on the ground instead of in the jeep.

Bobbi didn't hesitate to drive straight through the wall of a small gift shop to conceal themselves slightly, and both she and Jemma watched carefully through the window of the small building. Bobbi turned off the engine and stepped out, pulling an extra gallon of gasoline out of the small storage space in the back and dousing herself in it. She silently motioned for Jemma to get out of the car, and she knew the drill. She let Bobbi toss some of the liquid onto her and she rubbed it into her arms and her clothes. They both looked to Skye. Jemma knew they couldn't cover her in gasoline now, but they had to do something to cover up the smell of blood. Jemma grabbed Skye's hand and positioned it above her wound before she pulled Bobbi's vest off of her shoulders and soaked it. She tossed the garment over Skye's abdomen and crawled back into the seats, applying pressure over the wound, but with Skye's hand between the wound and the vest to keep gasoline from getting into it and the vest between Jemma and Skye's hands.

One of the Jurassic World ACU unit jeeps swerved around a corner onto the main street and came into view, prompting Bobbi to get back in the jeep and lie low. They both had a good view as the Indominus rex suddenly came thundering after it, snapping its jaws around the sides and stopping it. The dinosaur was crafty, it stepped on the back to hold the car in place while it began tearing the roof off.

Jemma tried to block out the screaming, but the only way she could do that was to travel deep into thought, where one idea was steadily growing in her mind. Soon, there would be no one left to kill the Indominus. It had already killed almost all of the non-visitor population, the only survivors being the few ACU teams left distracting it, those in the control room, and the trio currently hiding in the partially destroyed gift shop. No one was trying to stop it, they were just delaying the inevitable and stalling to get as many people out as possible.

That just wasn't acceptable, and Jemma knew she had to do something. She created this mess, literally, so she had to be the one to end it. Bobbi could see Jemma cooking up an idea, but she didn't know what it was and couldn't speak up to ask, so she waited until Jemma was finished forming it and explained to her.

Jemma was finished, and she looked down at Skye with tears in her eyes. It was almost a good thing Skye was incapacitated, she would never let the scientist follow through with this plan if she could help it. Skye seemed fully alert at the moment, her eyes were open and looking up into Jemma's. Jemma couldn't help but smile for just a second. She could very well die trying to carry out her plan, and if she did she wanted this to be the last way Skye saw her.

"I have to fix this, Skye." Jemma sighed, pulling her hands away and waving Bobbi over. Bobbi didn't hesitate, she took Jemma's spot as the shorter woman pulled away and out of the vehicle. "Keep her safe." Jemma asked Bobbi. "And I need your phone."

Bobbi looked at Jemma in confusion, but pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket and put it into Jemma's open hand regardless. She had no idea what Jemma was up to, but she could tell already that she wasn't going to like it.

"We need more teeth." Jemma told her, rounding the jeep and grabbing a box of dinosaur handling supplies that was in every vehicle for emergencies. She grabbed one of the bright red flares and came back to Skye and Bobbi, who had probably figured out her plan.

"Everything will be okay." Jemma whispered, kissing Skye's forehead lightly and pulling away when Skye tried to grab her. Jemma looked over her shoulder at the white dinosaur, who was nearly finished destroying the ACU car. Her time was running out. If she wanted to make a run for the T-rex paddock, she needed to do it now. "I have to fix this." Jemma repeated again, tears in her eyes, before she turned and ran across the street.

Skye's hands were sticky and wet and slippery and the doctor's tank too easily slipped out of her weak grasp. 'We need more teeth' wasn't the sentence she wanted to hear and even though she was fading in and out, Skye knew what it meant. The look on Bobbi's face wasn't excited or pleased either and she wasn't so far gone that she couldn't pick up context clues. When the blonde handed over her phone, Skye began to panic, and even as Jemma leaned over and kissed her forehead , whatever was left of her adrenaline started rushing through her veins. It made her bleed more, and the blonde pressed down on the wound in her abdomen, making the brunette groan.

She watched as Bobbi looked at her, fear in her eyes at the sound and she shook her head, using her only free hand to put a finger up to her own lips to tell Skye to be quiet. Quiet be damned. The moment Jemma was out of sight Skye used all her might she had left, carefully conserved during the ride to the park, to try and sit up. Pain shot from her stomach and her lower back all through her body, causing her to cry out louder than before. The cry was mixed with the doctor's name and she tried to shout it again before Bobbi had her free hand over the brunette's mouth, stifling any cries for Jemma to come back.

She shushed her again and forced the girl back down, keeping pressure on the wound even as the girl's panic was causing her to bleed out faster. She couldn't see how bad it was under the vest but Bobbi did take the half second to notice it was running very slowly down the seat of the jeep. Despite the raptor trainer's very adamant insistence Jemma not go, the blonde could feel she was getting colder. Which was odd because Skye felt like she was on fire. Every nerve ending in her body was shooting pain signals to her brain and it was making her writhe against the jeep seat and against Bobbi's hand now that Jemma wasn't there to whisper calming words and encouragement in her ear.


	8. Run

Jemma heard Skye's call, but she forced herself not to look back. If she even glanced over her shoulder and saw Skye in pain, she knew she would chicken out and go running back to her. If that were to happen, every single visitor on the island would die, and eventually the three of them would as well.

Traveling in alleyways between buildings and paddocks, she made her way across a large enough section of the park to make her lungs burn by the time she got close. The sky was darkening enough with evening for the flare to catch the T-rex's attention, so she had that one thing in her favor.

It seemed impossible that she'd be able to run the whole distance back, twice as fast, with a Tyrannosaurus rex on her tail, but she had to try. Jemma could never forgive herself if she didn't try her very best to put an end to the situation she'd caused. Despite Skye's change of mind after they'd spent more time together, the raptor handler had been correct. She hadn't blamed her for the right things, but she was right to blame her for the whole situation in the first place. She shouldn't have listened to Ward, she should have refused to make the I-Rex and accept her pink slip, but she hadn't. That was why she needed to do this. So many lives had ended because of her creation and it was only fair that she risked her own to save everyone else.

When she was within a few seconds of the paddock entrance she was looking for, she called Fitz from Bobbi's phone and held it up to her ear. As it rang, she reached the tall, concrete door and slowed to a standstill, huffing and using every second she had to catch her breath.

"Bobbi? What's happening?" Fitz's voice came through, and Jemma suddenly felt even more upset. She hadn't had to convince Skye to let her go, she just had to run, but Fitz was a whole other story. She had to make him open that door and let a T-rex go after her.

"Fitz, it's Simmons." Jemma said quickly. It was almost weird to refer to herself like that, she'd gotten used to the way Skye called her Jemma.

"Are you three alright? Has something happened to Bobbi?" He asked suddenly. Jemma was calling from Bobbi's phone, it was only natural for him to assume Bobbi was incapacitated and Jemma had her phone.

"We're fine, Fitz. Well, Bobbi and I are fine. Skye's been shot." Jemma choked up a little bit just saying the words, but it was also time she got to what she really needed to speak to him for, every second wasted was another second the Indominus rex could find Bobbi and Skye. Before Fitz could respond, Jemma cut him off. "Listen, Fitz, I need you to open the door to paddock nine." She breathed. There were a few moments of silence, probably as Fitz pulled up the controls and the security camera to see what she had planned.

"Jemma, no. I'm not going to let you offer yourself up as dinosaur dinner!" He exclaimed, and Jemma knew he had seen her through the security camera, which she now looked directly at. The lens moved slightly as it focused on her, and Jemma gave it a cold stare. "Do it now, Fitz. If you don't open this door everyone on the island is going to die." She argued.

"No, absolutely n-"

"Give the phone to Trip." Jemma ordered him, probably with a little too much anger in her voice, but she couldn't help it. She was running out of time and she needed someone who would be able to think about everyone else's safety and not just hers. There was light talking on the other side of the line and Jemma grit her teeth. She was running out of time.

"Simmons." She heard Trip's solemn voice. He was with Fitz, which meant he knew exactly what Jemma was planning. The way he said her name made Jemma lose a little bit of confidence. It was like he just knew Jemma was going to die and this was the last time he was addressing her.

"I need you to open the door, Fitz can't do it." Jemma sighed. She was almost too calm at this point. Maybe she'd given in to her own fate, maybe she had a death wish, who knew. She could practically hear Trip's nod through the phone, she knew she could count on him to do what had to be done to save the most lives.

"You have ten seconds. Good luck, girl." Tears brimmed in Jemma's eyes and she looked up at the camera again, nodding and hanging up the phone. She had no pockets and didn't want to carry the small object any longer, so she tossed the phone aside onto the concrete. Bobbi could get a new phone. In fact, Jemma would be buying a whole lot of new phones if she made it out of this.

A low, rumbling sound signaled Jemma to get ready. She pulled the top off the flare and sparks began to fly out of it. The red object was held out from Jemma's side, and the scientist took a deep breath of preparation as the large door to the T-rex paddock slowly raised. Jemma was met with darkness at first, only plants a short distance away were tinted with red light from the flare. Her heart raced as she stared into the void, and it just about jumped out of her chest a few seconds later. The first thing she saw were eyes. They appeared to be glowing, and they were followed by the dark, scaly outline of the rest of the T-rex's colossal body.

It slowly approached her, eyes on the flare, footsteps making the ground shake and vibrate. Just like she had with the raptors, Jemma waited, though this time there was no stun gun to save her. Only her legs would determine if she lived now. She considered taking off her stupid heels, but she'd worn them this far.

The hairs on the back of Jemma's neck rose and finally, when she couldn't take the fear anymore, she turned and took off running. She resisted the urge to cover her ears when a earth-shattering roar sounded just behind her. It was too late to change her mind now, this was really happening, and she needed to run for her life.

Jemma stumbled upon slipping slightly on a small crack full of water, but it didn't slow her down any because her instincts were allowing her to run faster than she ever had before, flare in hand and dinosaur in pursuit. She had to take a different route back to the main part of the park, one her scaly friend behind her could fit through, so it was an even longer distance. At one point she was sure she heard massive jaws snap behind her, but judging by the way she was still in one piece, the dinosaur had missed.

It was a horrible, terrible mistake, but Jemma looked over her shoulder. Every time someone was high up, what advice were they given? _Don't look down._ Everyone who ever gave that advice would be yelling at her now, and they were right. A short lived scream escaped unfiltered into the air, and it took away some of Jemma's lung power. She realized just how crazy and stupid she was. T-rexes had the capability to run almost twice as fast as a human. If this creature really wanted to catch her right away and not just play with its food, it would have by now. At any moment it could pick up the pace and snatch her right off the ground, devour her in a single bite.

She kept going though, for fear of dying if nothing else, until she finally rounded a corner and found herself on the same street she'd run from several minutes ago. She passed the destroyed ACU jeep that was splattered with blood and the crashing sound behind her meant the T-rex had probably kicked it out of its way.

Jemma's legs felt numb, and her lungs were on fire, but she kept going for the last hundred meters. The Indominus rex was just up ahead, sniffing around the gift shop, and it made Jemma furious instead of fearful. After everything they'd been through, the I-rex was not going to get Skye, not now, not ever.

"Hey!" She screamed, stealing its attention. Jemma and the T-rex were immediately more appealing than the tiny, silent heat signatures inside, so it turned and an ear-piercing roar shattered the darkening sky. As if she had no sense of self preservation, Jemma ran straight towards it, holding the flare high above her head. She was stuck between two giant monsters, but she didn't know which one she'd rather fall victim to.

After getting a few meters closer, Jemma finally threw the flare, and it fell just short of the bigger of the two creatures. A snarl-like sound came from its throat and Jemma swerved to the right, trying to get away from the carnivore sandwich. The I-rex apparently had a different idea, though, because Jemma didn't make it very far. She was trying to run in a wide circle around the giant white dinosaur, and she assumed it would go after the T-rex, since it was bigger, but she was wrong. She would never know if it was because the Indominus was smart and recognized her as the one that kept getting away, but it hadn't given up on trying to kill her.

Jemma was sprinting for the small gift shop, hoping to get into the jeep and have Bobbi speed away from the fight, but it wasn't going to happen. Just as she saw Skye and the tall blonde through the window, a crushing weight crashed down on her and Jemma screamed, realizing that each of the massive objects on her shoulders were the fingers of the I-rex, and the longer middle one had landed across her chest, sufficiently grabbing her. Skye and Bobbi got further away, much further away, as the monster picked her up, probably preparing to sling her into the air and snap her out of it again.

The Indominus never got to follow through with its plans either, because at this point, the Tyrannosaurus that Jemma had lured to the area slammed into it full force. Both dinosaurs collided with the building just beside the gift shop, and it was a miracle Skye and Bobbi weren't killed yet. The impact and the new, more challenging battle caused the I-rex to release Jemma, sending her flying. She wasn't sure how exactly she had landed because her sense of direction was off, but she did know that she had skidded and rolled across the concrete before finally coming to a stop and that one of her ankles was throbbing. Her shoes were gone, having fallen off at some point during her rough landing, and Jemma could already see her foot starting to bruise and swell. Most of her arms and shoulders were scraped and bleeding, and what little clothing had been covering her upper body was torn in several places.

Bobbi kept trying to push Skye back down, but the insistent raptor trainer kept trying to sit up so she could see so finally the blonde gave in and propped her up, still keeping her hand pressed down firmly on the girl's wound. The panic from Jemma leaving hadn't calmed and even though Bobbi kept trying to get her to calm down, Skye wouldn't, and the blonde could feel her warm blood pumping up from around her fingers.

Her head was swimming and Skye felt dizzy, grasping at Bobbi's shirt to try and ground herself. She was heaving and the blonde had trouble keeping her hand in place as the brunette starting sobbing hard from the shock and from Jemma running away. Skye had trouble focussing, and even though Bobbi heard the roar clearly, Skye was shaking and her world was a haze. One moment she could see Bobbi and the next she couldn't see anything, or if she could, it was blurry. Her vision decided to focus at the worst possible time because suddenly she got an eye full of Jemma fleeing from the Tyrannosaurus as it rounded the corner and crashed into the jeep.

She opened her mouth to scream again, but unlike last time, nothing came out and for that Bobbi was thankful, because the Indominus was right on them, sniffing its big white deadly head around the gift shop. Skye wasn't scared for herself. She was already dying, but just the fact that Jemma could die too was almost enough to stop her struggling heart right then. It almost did when she saw the I-Rex scoop Jemma up into its grasp. Bobbi had to stifle her own scream but was quickly relieved to see it drop her as the T-Rex slammed into it. The blonde was quick to action and grabbed Skye's own hands and pressed them down onto her stomach.

"You need to push, even if it hurts! Do not let go," Bobbi ordered of her and all Skye could do was nod weakly as the girl leapt up into the front seat, seeing the two giants take the battle closer to their gift shop. Skye's hands were warm and sticky, and slipping. She didn't have the strength to apply the proper pressure and the sole focus of whatever vision she had was on Jemma.

When Jemma finally regained her senses, she shook her head slightly to shake off her slightly blurry vision. Finally locating the jeep where Skye and Bobbi were still hiding, Jemma groaned. The two fighting, colossal dinosaurs were moving around and brawling between her and her friends. They were getting dangerously close to the gift shop, and Jemma saw what was coming before they did.

"Drive!" Jemma screamed. Bobbi, who had moved in the front in preparation for Jemma's return, quickly obeyed her command and stomped on the gas pedal, breaking through the second wall of the small building and speeding down the street just before the T-rex collapsed into it, smashing the entire shop and landing in the place the jeep had been three seconds earlier.

Jemma didn't know how to get to them, and she was panicking. By the way the fight was going, after a few more slashes and bites, the T-rex might lose. She didn't know what they would do then, the I-rex would turn its attention onto them and they would be as good as dead. Jemma would be the first to go if she couldn't somehow make it to the jeep. Hopping on one foot to avoid putting weight on her injured limb, Jemma stayed as close to the buildings on the opposite side of the street from the dinosaurs as possible. Bobbi was waiting for her, a few hundred meters away, and Jemma hopped as fast as she could, though she was completely exhausted and ready to collapse on the pavement.

The dinosaurs were moving down the street as they dueled, away from the three women, thankfully. Bobbi got out of the car and ran for Jemma, knowing it would be faster if she helped. Without another word, she scooped up the battered scientist in her arms and made a run for the jeep, depositing her on the floor on the back before getting back in the front and hitting the gas pedal again, bringing them a safer distance away from the chaos.

"I'm back." Jemma whispered, pressing against Skye's injury with one hand and cradling her face with the other, giving her several assurances that they were both alive for the time being. Skye looked out of it, and the immense amount of blood soaking the seats and the carpet beneath Jemma scared her. Before they could leave to get to the medical wing, though, Bobbi and Jemma wanted to see how the end of the fight played out. If the T-rex was killed and the Indominus won, they were all going to die anyway. It looked as if that would be the outcome as the bloodied, copper colored dinosaur collapsed onto its side when they got closer to the large manmade lake at the end of the road.

The Indominus rex stamped its feet and threw its head into the air, roaring and displaying its victory and dominance, and the hairs on the back of Jemma's neck rose again. They lost. Everything was over now.

"I love you." Jemma said quietly, softly pressing a kiss against Skye's lips, which were too cold. If everyone was going to die, she at least had to say it. She didn't care that they'd moved too quickly or that they didn't always get along, the honest truth was that she loved Skye. She'd loved her from the second she'd waltzed into the lab a few years ago to pick up a carnivore for the first time, she only just realized it during the last two days. It wasn't even a sure thing that Skye would be able to hear her, but she had to say it anyway, at least get it out into the universe so the fact wouldn't die with her.

"Jemma, I think you'll want to take a look at this!" Bobbi shouted back at her, and Jemma's head shot up, assuming the worst and expecting the I-rex to be charging at them. Instead, the blue raptor, Natasha, was latched onto the back of the Indominus's head, clawing and biting at it. Jemma didn't know why it had decided to betray its new alpha, but Jemma guessed it had something to do with the same reason the raptors left her and Skye alone. Skye would always be their real alpha, she had imprinted on them when they were young and had taken care of them all this time. The beta's job was to annihilate threats to her alpha, and she had apparently determined that the Indominus rex was one of them.

That wasn't the only miraculous thing that was happening. Seeing the sudden weakness and vulnerability of the larger dinosaur, the T-rex managed to haul itself to its feet and charge one last time, locking its jaw onto the neck of the Indominus while the small raptor leapt away. Jemma was paying attention to Skye and Bobbi, too, and she noticed Bobbi's hands tighten around the wheel. Jemma knew that look, Bobbi had an idea.

"Hold on tight." Bobbi grit her teeth and warned them, and Jemma wrapped her free arm around Skye the best she could before Bobbi took off down the road with the jeep at top speed.

"What are you doing?!" Jemma screamed, horrified to see how close they were getting to the dangerous fight and the water. Skye was only getting weaker, they no longer had time to stick around like this.

"Just trust me!" Bobbi didn't even look back at them, her eyes were locked on the lake ahead. As soon as they were close enough to give Jemma a heart attack, Bobbi stopped the car suddenly, and it took all of Jemma's remaining energy to hold Skye in place. Bobbi slammed her hand down on the horn, and the sound blasted out towards the dinosaurs. Jemma realized exactly what she was doing now. Bobbi's trained Mosasaurus was in the very lake they were looking at. This was where Bobbi worked every day, and she had as much control over the sea beast as Skye did over the raptors.

When a huge, dark shadow rose closer to the surface, Bobbi moved her hand from the car horn and switched the jeep into reverse, speeding away just as quickly, but not so fast that they didn't have an incredibly close up view as the Mosasaurus burst from the water, nose first, and flung itself halfway up onto land. Its jaws snapped onto the Indominus rex's torso, and the T-rex had enough sense to let go and back away as the white scaled, intelligent monster that could hardly be called a dinosaur disappeared under the surface. Large waves crashed up onto the street and traveled across the lake, but once the water stilled, the Indominus rex was gone.

Jemma's jaw had dropped and there was an huge silence. Everything was still, after the last few days it was impossible to believe that the I-rex was truly dead. Without so much as a roar, the T-rex turned tail and slowly trudged towards the wilderness, probably to spend time in the quiet and try to recover from battle.

Natasha sprinted to the side of the jeep, and Jemma found herself not feeling any fear. There was an odd trust between them, the raptor had just saved their life and didn't seem like it was going to be hurting them now. It was just standing there at the edge of the jeep, looking at her expectantly. Jemma moved away from Skye just enough to reach over the door and extend her arm towards it. She'd never actually touched a dinosaur that wasn't sedated for medical inspection or treatment, but she was compelled to now. Natasha stretched her neck slightly and touched her scaly nose to Jemma's palm before scampering off. Jemma would have to remember to tell whoever came for containment and cleanup to not hurt the raptor and the T-rex in return for their amazing feat.

There was a strange sense of finality in the air, and a completeness that was similar to how Jemma felt when she completed the genetic code for the Indominus rex. The recent event had been so traumatic and life threatening that it was difficult to see anything ahead of it. It felt good.

It felt good until Jemma stopped feeling Skye's torso move up and down beneath her hand.


	9. Dead Weight

"Skye?" Jemma's voice cracked, and when she looked at Skye's pale face, she toppled over the edge. She started sobbing and Bobbi knew to start finally heading towards their medical center, so that they would already be there if Jemma managed to revive her.

"Skye, wake up." Jemma sobbed hysterically, putting one hand over the other and thrusting it downward over Skye's chest, repeating the motion as she counted out each chest compression. When she reached thirty, she tilted Skye's head back, plugged her nose, and leaned over her face, blowing life saving air into her lungs. Though her mouth was pressed against Skye's, it felt nothing like their previous kisses and it almost made Jemma want to throw up because she was so nervous and distraught. After the rescue breaths had no effect, Jemma used another thirty chest compressions as she started another CPR cycle. When Skye's heart still didn't start pumping blood, Jemma shakily gave her another two rescue breaths.

Still with no results, Jemma thrust her hands even harder against Skye's chest in frustration, wanting more than anything for her stubborn heart to just start up again. After the third cycle, while Jemma was pushing air into her lungs, she finally felt a weak response.

"Skye?" She asked again, though she knew the woman wouldn't be strong enough to answer her even if she was alive. Jemma waited with bated breath for about four seconds before she saw Skye's chest rise and fall in a small but steady pattern. She checked her pulse, and though weak, it was there.

"Stay with me Skye, keep fighting. We're almost to the medical center, you're going to be ok..." Jemma assured her, but the words were probably lost before they reached Skye's ears.

* * *

Skye wasn't even heavy at this point. Bobbi had enough adrenaline remaining that the bleeding girl in her arms felt like nothing more than a sack of flour. Skye was drifting in and out, seeing the lights in the ceiling one moment and black the next. She felt like she was on a dizzying train ride down a tunnel...a cold tunnel. She was shivering, or at least she thought she was but Bobbi couldn't feel her shaking. Her breaths hurt and the raptor trainer could feel the cold blood sluggishly moving through her veins. It hurt. Everything else was numb but she could actively feel the red liquid leaving her body through her weak hands which were pressed to her abdomen in a feeble attempt to keep it in. The brunette's blood was soaking Bobbi's clothes as she raced down the dimly lit hallways, following Jemma around the corner to reach the medical wing. Skye was getting dizzy and she was finding it harder and harder to keep her eyes open.

Jemma's words were rattling around in her head, keeping her sane, mostly. She needed to hang on. She was stronger her than this. She raised raptors and she had survived the Indominus more times than she could count and now from what she gathered the worst of everything was over. She could relax. Jemma would take care of everything. The brunette smiled and let her eyes shut, letting herself calm down. No need to be frightened or worried anymore. They were all safe. Jemma was safe. She even felt warmer now, and for that she was glad. Skye didn't like the cold, much preferring the tropical heat of the island. Maybe now that things were over she could take the scientist on a proper date. They could have a picnic or go on a hike or she could take the girl to a nice restaurant. Anything could happen. All her plans made Skye smile. "Jems..." It came out a ghosted breath, weak, and almost lost to the commotion of them rushing through the building and Bobbi's heavy breathing.

The doctor had snatched a stretcher from the wall and Bobbi was just running up when suddenly the bleeding girl got heavy.

"Simmons!" Bobbi knew dead weight when she felt it, quite used to carrying it to feed the mosasaur, and she felt it now. "Simmons, she stopped breathing again!" When the stretcher came she laid the brunette down on it and she didn't move or groan or anything. Skye was limp on the stretcher as Bobbi was pushing it, racing it in through the glass doors to the medical wing. This was the second time her heart had stopped and they had less and less time to try and fix it.

"I need you to turn on the backup generator, now." Jemma ordered Bobbi, trying to remain calm when all she really wanted to do was break down. She stopped in the middle of the hall and began performing CPR again, they didn't have time to get everything working before Skye needed to be revived. Bobbi finally rushed off to follow Jemma's directions as Jemma began pushing air into Skye's lungs for the second time. If she could just have one more moment with Skye...she would give anything for it.

"You're. Not. Going. Anywhere." Jemma said sternly between chest compressions. She wasn't about to let Skye just drift off and never come back, she was going to make her stay. There was no other option, Jemma just had to save her.

Finally, after what felt like much too long, Skye sucked in a small breath of her own and the second Jemma knew her heart was weakly beating, she pushed against the stretcher and got it rolling again. Her foot was throbbing and Jemma was positive it was at least sprained, if not broken, but she forced herself to walk on it anyway so that she could get Skye to the nearest operations room.

There were no people in the halls, it was eerily silent as Jemma pushed Skye through the labyrinth of the medical building and towards the door to an operation room. She ran on the cold tile with bare feet, ignoring her own pain in favor of focusing on Skye. Jemma hadn't been expecting anyone to be here. Even though there were probably plenty of visitors that needed medical attention, this part of the park had been completely evacuated because of the proximity if the I-rex not long ago. This was alright with her, though, it meant the rooms would not be crowded and there would be plenty of space for what Jemma needed to do next.

The lights overhead flickered on just as Jemma reached out for the door handle, and she sent a silent thank-you to Bobbi for getting the power back on in time. Jemma and Skye were in the operating room in an instant, and Jemma didn't bother to move Skye to the operation table or set up her supplies beforehand, she just wheeled Skye over to the cabinets and grabbed what she needed as she went. There was a wealth of medical supplies and Jemma had everything she could possibly need in one room. First, she grabbed a clotting agent that is used when a patient doesn't stop bleeding on their own, and she pumped Skye's wound full of it, also remembering to roll her over slightly and do the same to her exit wound. It would be a tricky process since the bullet had caused injuries on both her front and back, but Jemma was going to fix it, no matter what.

Jemma carefully positioned Skye on her side so that she would continue to have full access to both the entrance and exit wounds from the bullet. It was hard to work, Jemma's hands were caked with Skye's blood, some if it dried, some of it not. The pad on the stretcher had already been saturated, but thanks to the clotting agent, the blood flow finally slowed to a stop.

Jemma rushed to a sink in the corner and scrubbed her hands as best as she could. The dirty and grime washed away with the soap, but she still felt like her hands would be permanently stained red. She knew what she had to do, but it would be so much harder with Skye than any other dinosaur or person she'd had to treat during an emergency, and this wasn't exactly her field. She was a geneticist, it was only her PhD in anatomy that helped her at all, but she was definitely no surgeon. It was very lucky that the bullet hadn't hit any of Skye's vital organs, if it had, she would have been dead by now. Jemma just had to get her closed up.

It wasn't difficult to find sterilized needle and thread, anesthetics, and cleaning wipes, and she got to work immediately. She piled all of the supplies where they would fit around Skye on the stretcher, and when Jemma looked down at her again, she froze. She didn't know if she could do this, but she had to assume she would be doing it alone, since Bobbi didn't currently know where they were and Jemma didn't have time to signal for her somehow. She didn't have time for anything, not even a moment's hesitation. Getting Skye fixed up and stable was top priority.

"Everything will be alright soon." Jemma assured her patient, kissing her forehead lightly. Skye was still unconscious, or at least appeared to be. Jemma didn't know if the other girl could hear her, but it was worth it if she could and her words provided comfort. After one last lingering look, Jemma swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to push away her anxiety.

The wet cloth wasn't very efficient at cleaning up the area on Skye's abdomen, it mostly just smeared around the blood, but at least it spread it around and lightened it enough for Jemma to be able to see the small hole that so much blood had escaped from. Jemma had to bite her lip as she injected the area with anesthetics. Normally she had absolutely no problem with needles, but puncturing Skye's skin with anything while she was unaware made her anxious.

Skye's shirt kept slipping back down her waist, and finally Jemma decided to cut away the material so it would be out of the way, and that was when she also remembered about the triceratops gash, the gauze was still taped over her side. And her arm. Skye was a mess, and Jemma knew she was going to be as well by the time she fixed all of this.

It took her a sufficient amount of blood, sweat, and tears, literally, to get Skye patched up. She'd cleaned up all of the girl's wounds and stitched as many of them as was necessary. The woman's torso and arm were covered in thread, in two small spaces on her abdomen and back, one jagged line running across her side, and tiny sets of stitches all over her forearm where the raptor teeth had dug in deeply.

Skye still wasn't ok, though. She'd lost so much blood, the two times she'd gone into cardiac arrest could have been from shock. It would be dangerous to put any of the blood on hand in the building to Skye, since there was no way to tell how long the power had been out and she wouldn't risk a blood transfusion with bad blood. Any blood she was going to receive would have to come straight from the vein, and Jemma was glad now that she was blood type O and would be able to give it to her.

The only problem with this, Jemma realized as she found what she needed, was that Skye needed much more than the pint that was supposed to be what a person could donate at once. She didn't think about the consequences as she swiped the alcohol-soaked swab over the inside of her own elbow and inserted the needle, watching as the red liquid traveled through the tube into a small plastic bag. Jemma used another small tube and needle and connected the bag to Skye, disinfecting and inserting the needle into the inner side of Skye's good arm. Her heart was now pumping life saving blood into Skye's veins.

Finally satisfied that she'd done everything she could to help and that Skye would heal in time, Jemma rolled Skye's stretcher closer to the operating table and hopped up onto it, finally taking her weight off her injured leg and elevating herself so that the blood made it through both tubes to Skye's body more efficiently. The same calm that had washed over her when the Indominus rex was dragged into that lake passed over her now, and she finally felt content. Now having time, Jemma pulled her leg up onto the table, wincing, and examined it herself. It could be broken, at least fractured, but she wouldn't know until she could get an X-ray.

After several minutes, Jemma was beginning to get dizzy and she knew she was giving up a lot of blood, but it didn't matter as long as Skye was alright. She'd lost a lot, so she needed a lot to fix it. Jemma had gone into this with the intention of donating her blood until she couldn't any longer, but she messed up. She'd been trying to push herself to the brink, to give Skye as much blood as possible and then unhook herself before she passed out and was left to drain all of her own blood into Skye, but the darkness crept up on her before she realized it. One second she was just dizzy and a little woozy, the next she was falling backwards onto the operation table just as unconscious as Skye.

* * *

Bobbi had been running around like a madwoman, trying to find wherever Jemma had ended up with Skye, but after running to the other end of the building to turn on the generator, she quickly got lost in the halls trying to find her way back as she searched. She threw open every door, panicked when her friends were not inside, and left it open as she moved on so she knew where she'd already been.

After checking what Bobbi thought was every door, she looked around her. The place looked incredibly disorganized, doors were hanging open everywhere and she wasn't sure which direction to go. She checked everywhere, finally coming across an open door that caught her attention. It was open, but the hall was unfamiliar. She rushed to it, listening for some kind of noise that meant they were inside. Upon scrambling through the frame, she was confused. What she had not expected was complete silence and both women lying unconscious. What had happened to Jemma?! She hadn't had any life threatening injuries after being tossed by the I-rex, but Bobbi was no doctor.

Rushing over, Bobbi found the reason for Jemma's blackout and carefully removed the IVs from both girls, almost angry at Jemma for doing something so reckless. The scientist had donated enough of her own blood to fall unconscious, and her heart had continued to pump it out of her even afterwards.

"Stupid..." Bobbi clenched her jaw, aiming her word at Jemma, though she wouldn't be able to hear her. Bobbi's state of panic was in no way eased by how ok Skye looked. Some of the color and life had returned to her face, but it had been drained from Jemma's. Her pulse was fine, but that didn't worry her any less. Both of her friends were incapacitated and Bobbi didn't know what to do.

Once she made sure that they were both alive and breathing, just unconscious, almost in a sleep state, Bobbi rushed back to the reception area of the park's hospital, grabbing the phone and calling Coulson. Now that the Indominus rex was dead, Bobbi could inform Coulson of the good news and everyone that hadn't been evacuated could now take refuge at the hospital, and visitors could be treated with proper supplies. More importantly that that, the doctors who actually worked here could come to make sure her friends were alright.


	10. Slim Meisie

A groan filled the air. It shattered the comfortable silence, which was soon ruined altogether by another groan. She was sore to the bone and as the brunette stirred under the white sheets, she found it hard to move. Her body just did not seem to want to work for her and she was too tired to try. Skye's eyes didn't open until her ears caught the middle of a conversation, but she couldn't make it out. The dim gray ceiling of the room was unappealing and it made her want to drift back to sleep. The woman did finally manage to roll over emitting another groan at how defiant her body seemed to be, shutting her eyes tightly and trying to ignore the sudden background noise. Machines were humming, people were talking, and something was buzzing.

Suddenly there was a bout of static before a loud and mildly irritated sounding voice pounded into her ears. There was a huff from the small bed and the carnivore expert reached for the bedside table, eyes still shut in one last bout of defiance, before she brought the walkie-talkie to her ear, "Jabulani, Jabulani, slow down. Tell me again."

"Yes, yes, miss Johnson. Mashaka is out of perimeter again. You need to go and bring him back. His tracker pinged in at—" Skye listened sleepily to the coordinates, trying to remember them as she sat up from bed, holding the white and blue sheets around her chest.

From her bed in her trailer she could see the monitors on her computer flashing the coordinates as well as she watched a red dot on the screen moved towards a large green line.

"I see him. He's close to the fence, I'll be on my way," Skye confirmed and put the radio back down, falling back into bed. It was just then that she noticed her alarm clock had gone off and the conversations she had heard in her half asleep state was the morning's news over the radio. She could barely make it out anyway as it was all in Afrikaans and her personal translator didn't seem to be present. The buzzing had been her phone, which Skye promptly grabbed and pushed the circle button, bringing up several text messages and one voicemail which made her sleepy self smile so early in the morning. She shot a quick text back and put her phone back down, finally deciding to get up.

First, she abandoned the sheet, and scooted her naked body out of the bed, grabbing a pair of jean shorts from the floor and a fresh pair of undies and slid them both up in quick succession. She had to scramble for a bra. Her roommate of the past six months had a way of losing it willy nilly in the night. When she went to find a shirt, she recalled that they were all hanging up on the clothesline outside. This made the brunette groan again, but she quickly decided to move on to a different part of her morning routine before venturing outside half dressed. She slipped into the small bathroom, taking a look in the mirror.

Her hair was a mess, as was expected after having romped around on into the wee hours of the morning. The African sun did wonders for her tan though, and Skye made sure to keep it even and not get a 'farmer's tan, or in this case, burn, like Jemma seemed to. Skye constantly had to remind her to put on more sunscreen throughout the day. Everything was toned to perfection, just as it had been when they had worked at Jurassic World. Her rituals hadn't changed much. She still worked with dangerous carnivores, just now they were mostly big cats and not giant reptiles. Skye's constant reminders were still very evident though, and still pink, despite the months that had passed.

She rubbed a trembling hand over her abdomen, admiring it with a grimace in the mirror before she brushed out her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. She didn't have a lot of time to waste. Having rushed outside to snatch a shirt, the brunette buttoned it up quickly, throwing her lucky leather vest over it and fastening her knife to the back of her belt. Her boots were on, radio clipped to her belt, and phone in her back pocket before she stepped out of the trailer again and into the hot sun. She quickly rolled up her sleeves, revealing on one arm the scars that remained from Natasha's teeth. She was more fond of them than she was the ugly looking mark on her stomach. At least she had liked the raptor.

A great deal of her last few days at the prehistoric park had been a blur, and with good reason. She had been incapacitated for a few days before finally coming back to consciousness. By then she had been shocked to hear that everything was over. She had legitimately died twice, according to both Bobbi and Jemma, but also thanks to the both of them, she had pulled through. She vaguely remembered her now girlfriend running from a six ton Tyrannosaurus Rex, right into the clutches of the Indominus. She was fairly certain that was a point she had died. It was nothing short of a miracle. She had been so elated in fact, that when she had woken up, and seen Jemma awake in the bed next to her, she had said the first thing she could remember. ' _I love you too!_ '

It had been quite embarrassing for the both of them, but Skye had managed to muster what courage she had remaining from fleeing from deadly reptiles for two days to use it to ask Jemma out to dinner. She had asked her to a proper date from her hospital bed. To her delight, the good doctor had said 'yes', and now here they were, half a year later, working on a famous African reserve. Shortly after coming outside, the brunette was grabbing her rifle, slinging it into the passenger seat of the jeep, the side doors of which read "KNP" for Kruger National Park.

Skye was speeding away from the small trailer and down the dirt road, creating a cloud of dust behind the jeep as she drove while she pulled her phone back out of her pocket and pressed her first speed dial. It took close to a minute before the animal trainer grinned when she heard the other end pick up.

"Hey Jems, what pulled you out of our nice warm bed so early in the morning, huh? Don't answer that, no excuse will be valid. I've got a lion out of the reserve perimeter that I need to go bring back in. Which sector are you in? I can come and pick you up if you're done with your secret early work. You need to come and tell me more about the archaeornithomimus."

Jemma grinned as she held her cell phone between the side of her face and her shoulder. Her hands were occupied, cradling a sick riverine rabbit in her arms. Many of the animals in the reserve were tagged, and people at the lab were alerted when one of them stayed stationary for too long, and this rabbit had. Jemma had been dropped off over an hour ago and had to spend a painstaking amount of time convincing it to trust her, but now she had the furry little animal nuzzling into her shirt.

"That's actually great timing, Skye. I'm on the south end of sector seven, I'll be on the road." She chose to ignore Skye's joking comments, which she would gladly make up for later, as she headed back where she came, stepping around small shrubs and not even bothering to keep dirt and sand out of her shoes anymore. She'd long since gotten used to being filthy. Going into the field every few days was nothing compared to the ordeal she'd been through at the end of Jurassic World's time.

The park had been closed, naturally, as it was the second time something of the sort had happened and people had died. The park itself had been abandoned, but many of the dinosaurs that had been left were unharmed. Only avian dinosaurs were put down, the rest remained on the island, no longer caged. After the whole fiasco, Coulson had called her up and asked her to do one last job, to plan, organize, and set up a long lasting ecosystem that didn't include dinosaurs that could swim or fly to get to other lands. They were instead monitored, and the islands became a reserve, off-limits to anyone but the few who maintained it and visited every few months to make sure everything was in order.

Jemma still clearly remembered the fall of Jurassic World, especially the disbanding of their friends. They still talked, constantly video chatting and sending letters to each other, but most of them had spread out and done their own thing. They'd had one hell of a laugh before they'd all parted, apparently there had been a bet going on between everyone except Jemma and Skye that they had been unaware of. The second the group of them had gathered around Skye's hospital bed for the first time, Bobbi had stared them straight in the eye and asked if they'd slept together. Jemma's blush had been enough to give it away, and Fitz was appalled, exclaiming ' _when did you even have time for that?!'_

They'd had a lot of time for that in the last six months, though. It was new for Jemma to live with her girlfriend, but she found it much more enjoyable than falling asleep alone at night. It had started when there'd been nightmares. She and Skye had shared a hotel room, with two beds, for the first few weeks after they left Isla Nublar. They had nowhere to go and weren't sure what to do with their future, so they had stayed together. Every night for the first week one of them had woken up screaming, and the other had rushed to cuddle up and eased them both back into sleep. Eventually they'd just started going to bed like that, to stop the nightmares before they started.

They'd both gotten job offers at the same reserve after that, world news had insured that their names were known and it was few who didn't know of their accomplishments.

"Do you have time to take me to the lab? I have a little patient with me." Jemma asked, shifting the rabbit into one arm so she could hold her phone and relieve her neck of the tension that had been stuck there from trying to hold the phone in place when her skin was slick with a thin layer of sweat.

"Yeah, yeah, just hang tight for ten. I can get you first and swing around and nab my lion. Shouldn't take too long to get him going back in the right direction, then I can beeline it to the lab for you," Skye grinned into the phone even though she knew Jemma couldn't see it. She switched the device into her other hand as she turned down the road to head in her girlfriend's direction. The brunette was glad that they had managed to get a job in the same place, doing something similar to what they had been doing. Jemma's current job was as close to her dream as she could get. Skye remembered her saying how much she had wanted to work with endangered animals, and now here they were. The two had almost single handedly started rebuilding the Barbary Lion population, using the reserve and the lab as a safe place to raise the extinct animal back into existence. Their numbers were still very small, but with their progress, Skye was confident the numbers would be in the low thousands within a span of five to seven years.

They were doing the same for many animals like this. Helping to preserve them and bring them back from the brink. Skye enjoyed working with lower level intelligence carnivores. The closest that came to the raptors on the reserve were the wild dogs roaming around. She had grown fond of them though, over the last few months. The carnivore expert remembered being asked if she would like to be part of the permanent program that would help go back to Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna and look over the dinosaurs there. They had people doing checkups, and Skye knew that Jemma had set up the program, but she had declined after meditating on it for a long while. She did miss her raptors but it was best to let nature be, and she wanted it behind her. She wasn't exactly sure what she would do if she ever saw a raptor again.

Jemma had needed to wake her several times the first few weeks during sleep because she had simply just stopped breathing. The nightmares had been so bad she couldn't handle it, but now it rarely happened, and on occasions when it did, the doctor held her close and rubbed her head, doing breathing exercises with her in the early hours of the morning to recover. Sometimes she still felt like she was dying, but those occurrences had grown less and less frequent, and for that, the brunette was thankful.

It took a little more than ten minutes to reach Jemma, having had to stop and wait for a group of water buffalo to cross the road, who had, of course, decided to take their time. She pulled the jeep up, stopping a little too quickly and causing a lot of dirt and sand to fly up into the air. Skye just fanned it away with her hand and grinned out to the doctor, "Who is joining us today?"

Jemma grinned when Skye pulled up next to her, seeing the other woman always seemed to have the same effect on her, no matter how long they were together. As the dust cleared and Jemma's view of her girlfriend did the same, her face brightened even more and she walked around the front of the jeep, opening the door and sliding into the seat.

"Male riverine rabbit, probably about nineteen months old." Jemma said this scientifically, but the way she smiled and cuddled the small furry creature in her arms gave away just how much she really did care. This was her dream job. To be able to save all the endangered species was what she'd wanted her whole life, and now she got to do it with Skye.

"It seems like we may have a case of Pasteurellosis spreading about, and if that's the case, we'd better get antibiotics to as many of the affected little guys as possible. This may be a one case infection, if we're lucky." Jemma informed Skye, though her voice changed and softened a little bit when her words began being directed at the rabbit. She rubbed his soft stomach and used her shirt to clear away some of the discharge from his nostrils. His upper respiratory infection could be treated back at the lab and he'd be back into the reserve in no time.

"Well, he's a cutie, snot and all," Skye grinned, turning the jeep back down the road towards the coordinates she had gotten from the tracking computer. Her phone was up the dashboard, showing their blue dot as the jeep, getting closer towards the fence line as time went on. It would be a quick job. This lion always seemed to find a way out of the fence, but he knew when he was out of bounds. Skye had caught him several times, so they had a good relationship. Good enough at least for them to trust each other and for him to listen to her.  
Jemma made the brunette happy beyond words. To see her enjoying her job so much made Skye enjoy her own job even more. The two of them were a fantastic team, and when Jemma had given the reserve her proposal, they hadn't hesitated to hire Skye as well. It was the both of them, or nothing. They didn't complain though. The reserve found many uses and jobs for Skye to do, going to go and get escaped animals was just one of many.  
Finally Skye pulled off the road a little bit and stopped the car. The fence wasn't but a few yards away so the lion couldn't be far beyond it. "Here, babe, keep the keys to keep cool. I'll be right back. Mashaka is no trouble at all. Well, I mean he is. His name literally means trouble, but not the bad kind, just the annoying kind," The brunette leaned over and gave the doctor a kiss on the cheek before she snatched her rifle and got out of the car. It wasn't long till she spotted the problem in the fence. It looked like it had been cut away, one which was a serious security concern for the animals that could fit through it, and two a serious security concern if anyone had come in. Like poachers. As she stepped through the hole in the fence she pulled out her radio, "This is Johnson at the sector five perimeter. We may have a security issue code twelve. Copy."  
She heard the correspondence over the radio and sighed. Someone would be out shortly to have a look and security had been notified. Skye knew better than to try and check it out herself. She was very done with trying to do things that she shouldn't be doing alone. She had learned her lesson.  
Not five minutes out, the brunette spied the large male lion and soon enough had him following her back towards the fence, although begrudgingly. She would have to give him a snack when they got back to the jeep, which wasn't long at all. The brunette pulled a cooler out of the back and got a few pieces of meat from it and gave it to the lion. Skye waited for him to wander away before she got back in the car, smiling to Jemma, "See? Piece of cake."

Jemma liked watching Skye work whenever she got the chance. It was still fascinating to her how Skye just seemed to connect dangerous animals. She was glad that now they were large felines or small canines instead of prehistoric serial killers, though.

It was nice to have another problem resolved, though there were still several other things to do before the end of the day, when she and Skye would probably snuggle up in their bed and watch one of the DVDs they brought with them over for the hundredth time. They didn't exactly have access to live TV out here, so new movies were a rarity and they loved when one of their friends sent them a new one to add to their collection.

"After we get this little guy to the lab I have to go give vaccines to some of the African wild dogs, would you like to come? I know you love visiting them." Jemma offered. It was true that the animals here lived in the wild, the researchers, scientists, and other employees just went extra measures to make sure they survived, so this included occasionally protecting species against diseases.

"Absolutely!" Skye grinned wide and set the jeep going back down the dirt road, their speed kicking up sand and dust into the air behind them. Normally the brunette didn't mind a nice slow drive around the reserve with her girlfriend. She enjoyed seeing all the animals going about their business and getting to enjoy the scenery but their extra special VIP guest needed to get to the lab.

"You know that they are my favorite. I swear, one day you're going to come back to the trailer and I'm going to have a puppy. It's happening and you can't stop me," It was a long standing joke since the two of them began to work here that Skye had fallen in love with the wild dogs on the reserve. They were some of the most intelligent animals there, basically the reserves equivalent of raptors and the brunette was happiest when working with them. She adored the intelligent animals. They gave her more of a challenge and were more fun to work with, in her opinion anyway. After being used to the raptor's pace, Skye had found other animals less trying and more dull, except for the wild dogs. The trainer often joked about sneaking one of their pups back into the trailer to raise and train properly.

"We would both get arrested." Jemma laughed, though keeping her body still for her rabbit. Skye was often a little too enthusiastic about baby carnivores, she always had been. If Jemma didn't keep reminding her that it was illegal, Skye probably would smuggle a puppy back to their living quarters.

Once they got back to the lab, it was Jemma's turn to fit in and do her thing as well as Skye had with the lion. Skye trailed behind her like one of the puppies she liked so much and Jemma could hear the audible sigh from over her shoulder as they walked into the air conditioned lab. Even though Jemma was laughing at her for it, she was doing the same thing. The cool air in the lab was refreshing after being out in the African sun. Jemma got straight to business, though, swiftly walking towards the veterinarian section of the lab building and dropping off the rabbit.

She had to go to her own lab station to her computer to print out her work order, and Skye kept touching everything on the desk, as usual. Skye picked up a framed photo of herself with an elephant and Jemma smiled at it, she remembered the memory well. It had been such a vacation and an adventure here at first. Though that feeling had worn off a little as they started to work, it was no less exciting and enjoyable now.

As soon as Jemma printed out the command from her higher ups to vaccinate the wild dogs, she brought it back to the head veterinarian and picked up a case of the vaccinations to bring back out to her jeep.

"Is there anything you need before we go?" Jemma asked as she deposited the black case in the back seat.

"Nope, I'm ready if you are," The brunette grinned and jumped back into the front seat, pulling out her phone and already plugging the tracking numbers into it. Soon the wild dogs beacon was glowing and Skye locked in the coordinates. She had all of their tracking numbers memorized. That proved that they were her favorite because she wasn't the type to enjoy memorizing and remembering numbers like Jemma was.

She waited for Jemma to get in before she started the jeep again and shot off down another road, too excited to take it slow. Though, they still had a few minutes till they reached the zone the canines were in, so they had some time to kill. "When are you done today? Oh, and what do you want to watch tonight? Can we watch Sharknado?" Skye asked, perhaps a little too eagerly. She was so happy Trip had sent them the entire series in the mail. Jemma of course, hadn't been so thrilled, but Skye's commentary more than made up for how terrible (and how wonderful) the movie was.

Despite being happy to go back out and see the wild dogs, Jemma groaned, knowing she would be stuck watching Sharknado that night, since she always gave in when Skye begged and used her puppy dog face, and she knew Skye would for this.

"But there are so many scientific inaccuracies, even the idea of-" Jemma stopped and sighed when she saw the incredulous look on Skye's face. This wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation, and it probably wouldn't be the last. "I know, I know, it's a fictional movie." She repeated what Skye told her every time.

"Unless I get called in, this should be my last job for today. Tomorrow we have that Barbary Lion check in, so we can't stay up too late." Jemma informed her girlfriend. Sometimes after watching a movie they stayed up later and did other things, what Skye had childishly yet entertainingly decided to call bio lessons, but it was clear that tonight would be strictly a movie and cuddling night since they had to get out so early the next morning and would be busy for the whole day.

Skye, of course, made a pouty face at being told that they couldn't stay up late. Late was… a relative term. What was late for one person might not be late for another, and so her pout turned into a wicked little grin. "I mean, define late. What is late, really? Because, I don't think we finished our bio lesson from last night, and I really need to learn more about the archaeornithomimus." She was still grinning, and continued to do so even through the doctor's unamused gaze.

"Okay, okay, so…what if we watch an NCIS episode instead? Bobbi _did_ just send us season five last month and we've only watched them once? Episodes are shorter than moviessss…" Skye cooed, trying to worm her way into getting the other girl to smile.

It worked, a slow smile that Jemma just couldn't stop spread across her face. Skye would never not try, if there was any chance of a "bio lesson" that night she would work the opportunity to its fullest. Besides, Jemma was getting a better deal anyway. She liked NCIS a lot more than Sharknado, and she got to do something even more fun afterwards.

"Alright." Jemma sighed dramatically, though she knew Skye knew it was just for show, to possibly make Jemma seem a little less persuadable, but it didn't seem to have its desired effect. "NCIS it is. I wonder if we have any popcorn left." Jemma added, trying to remember how high their stock had been last time they'd had some. The movie night snack was another treat their friends often sent them in care packages, it was easy to ship and also another hard product to get in the African savannah.

"They're just off the road there." Jemma pointed out to her right, where the GPS said the wild dogs were. The jeep had no problem with the flat terrain and the animals were all fairly used to the vehicles, so they used it off road to avoid having to lug supplies out and away from the road.

The once raptor trainer had a rather large and victorious smile on her face as she turned off the road and followed the gps to the canines location. She pulled to a slow stop a few yards out, careful not to startle them too much. The animals liked to jump around and come sniff the vehicle and back up, only to come sniff again. They were such curious creatures and they made the brunette grin.

"Look, there's Steve! Oh, and Bucky. Always Bucky. Those two are like peanut butter and jelly, just stuck all over each other," Skye got out of the jeep before turning quickly back to Jemma before she got out, "next time we skype Fitz remind him to send us peanut butter. I miss it!" She shut the door then and moved away from the vehicle, letting the scientist carry whatever it was she had brought herself.

The brunette waited for the pack to surround them, sniffing at them and getting used to and remembering who they were. "Oh and there's Pepper. She's so sweet, _good girl_ , did you miss us?" Skye was already kneeling down and as the animals got used to her again a female came over closer than the others and let Skye give her a pat on the head. Soon the others were bouncing around and sniffing and playing and going about their business. The brunette spied a rather mischievous dog in the back and called for Jemma, motioning towards the spotted dog, "That's Tony. He likes to bite, remember? So watch out for that when you dose him."

Skye was so happy to be here, and her emotions tended to seep into Jemma, so she was beaming. Her favorite jobs were the ones with the wild dogs, she brought Skye with her every time because she loved to see Skye connect with each and every member of her favorite pack. Because the dogs trusted Skye, they even trusted Jemma too, and she enjoyed having the furry little canines sniffing around her and being generally curious. She could relate to them in that respect.

"Alrighty, Pepper, this will be just a quick pinch, you'll hardly feel it, and then you can't get sick." Jemma said cheerfully, rubbing the female down the back of her neck and gathering the scruff at the base, quickly slipping in the needle and pressing down on the plunger. The little dog almost looked offended, until Jemma offered her one of the scraps of meat from the cooler in the jeep. Then all the animals crowded around her, wanting to be next, and it gave her a good laugh. Skye helped by holding Tony's head still while Jemma gave him his shot. He got a little greedy, eating his own treat as well as snatching the next one out of the air before it reached another dog. Skye scolded him lightly, but they both knew it wasn't going to do anything.

It didn't take much longer for them to vaccinate the whole pack, but they stayed a while after, just feeding them extra meat and letting the dogs play around. The ones who were young enough that Skye and Jemma had been there when they were babies loved them the most, they jumped on top of them, stood up and put their paws on their shoulders, and even tugged on their clothes to get them to play.

And of course Skye always played. She had been too busy to keep a dog on Isla Nublar and the raptors were like her pets, although she never really treated them that way. Here, other animals weren't allowed on the reserve, but getting to spend time with the wild dogs made up for that. One day, the brunette figured, when they found another new place to work, or when they retired, maybe they could get a normal pet. Like a nice dog. Something regular like a retriever. After all these rare animals, a dog so common as a golden retriever or a lab might seem really strange to Skye.

The last of the meat was gone and although the dogs were clambering on them for more, the brunette had to push them away. The young ones were less deterred and took more convincing before they all finally scampered off to go about their business. Skye threw the empty cooler into the back of the jeep, grinning as she made sure Jemma collected all of her things before she got into the vehicle and cranked it up. The AC blasted in on her face and Skye sat back in the seat for a moment, glad of the relief from the heat. She had woken up later than usual, but it had already been a long day, between finding the lion and taking care of the rabbit at the lab and now having played with the African wild dogs for a long time, Skye was glad for an afternoon to relax.

"That's it. We're free for the rest of the afternoon. If we don't get called we could make a nice lunch and watch more than one episode of NCIS." Jemma said happily as she got into the jeep as well. Skye called out one more goodbye to the pack that was now on the move before getting back on the road and heading home. "And we can finish that bio lesson." Jemma grinned, knowing just by the half-satisfied look on Skye's face that that was what she had wanted. They would still watch TV, they both enjoyed cuddling up and just spending quiet time together as much as they enjoyed everything else.

"Since we have time, we could also skype Fitz and ask for that peanut butter." Jemma smiled happily at the idea of getting to visit with her friends, watch TV with Skye, and do those other things that they now had time for. And for peanut butter. If there was one downside to this job, it was the lack of normal things they used to be able to get every day.

The brunette nodded with a grin. A free afternoon was a welcomed treat. It wasn't often that they weren't both busy all day long, tomorrow was a good example. The Barbary lions would take most of the morning up till lunch and then all of their regular duties would come after and it would be close to dark before the both of them got back to the trailer. Those nights were definitely spent sleeping.  
It wasn't long before the jeep stopped in front of the long silver trailer and Skye sighed happily, glad to be home. It wasn't her old trailer from Isla Sorna, but it was bigger and felt just as much like home. She was resolved not to go back to that island for anything. The group of friends had been thoughtful enough to save her father's old motorcycle though, and for that Skye was very grateful. It sat out front, broken down again as it tended to be every other week, but it helped to make the little campsite all the more homey.

"We will have to wait till later to Skype Fitz. Maybe we can just send him an email now, in case we forget and get to wrapped up in...science," Skye chuckled and got out of the vehicle, stretching her arms up to the sky as she yawned. "It's probably a weird time for him right now anyway, where is he again?"

"I'm not sure. He got hired by government and he's been moving around a bunch." Jemma said with a slight frown. It was getting hard to keep track of where Fitz was, so maybe an email would be best. Also, an email would be better for scientific purposes, as Skye had so clearly put it.

As soon as Jemma stepped into the cooler atmosphere of the trailer, she sighed and shed a few layers of clothing, tossing her button-up into their small hamper and leaving her in her tank top. She also switched her jeans (which she still had to wear even in the heat to look professional in the lab) for a much comfier pair of Skye's sophie shorts.

"Come here, you." She grinned, grabbing onto each side of Skye's vest after she closed the door. She pulled her in and kissed her lightly, pulling her over to the bed and falling backwards onto it in a fit of giggles. It didn't last long before Jemma squirmed away and put in a DVD from season 5 of NCIS. Their TV was positioned at the foot of the bed in the slightly cramped trailer so that the two could lie in bed and watch it more comfortably than from the small chairs at their small table up against the other wall.

Jemma propped herself up on one elbow and waited on top the sheets for Skye to take off her vest and get comfortable like Jemma had moments before.

Skye grinned and quickly stripped off her boots and tossed them towards the door. Too excited, she left her pants on, and quickly took her vest off, hanging it up on a hook on the wall of the bedroom. The hole in the back of it remained unpatched from her encounter with Ward so many months before. She stripped her button up off too, leaving her in a white undershirt and a sports bra. Shortly after she fell in top of the sheets with Jemma, after turning their small fan on to get a little more relief from the heat.

The brunette snuggled up next to the other woman, propping herself up in an elbow and using her other hand to wrap around Jemma's waist. "Which episode is this?" She questioned before she nuzzled her face against the smaller girl's neck and kissed it lightly.

"Who cares." Jemma giggled, pressing a kiss into Skye's hair. "We've seen them all anyway." She wrapped her arm around Skye's waist and tangled their legs together. Like two halves, they both fit together perfectly when Jemma nuzzled back into her.

"Three." She spoke up when the episode started playing and she recognized it. She had a knack for remembering episodes and movies and being able to identify them.

As they both settled in, Jemma rested her head on Skye's chest and a deep, content sigh slipped from her lips. It was wonderful to have an afternoon off at the same time as Skye. As much as she loved her job, she loved her girlfriend even more and a few hours to cuddle was always welcome.

"Well aren't you just a clever girl?" Skye grinned and settled down against the other woman as the episode began. It was going to be a calm and relaxing evening, and for that the brunette was glad. She was wholly satisfied with her life at present, despite all the bumps and scrapes along the way, but she found it all to be worth it. To have Jemma like this and be so happy, Skye didn't think she would hesitate to do it all again, Jurassic World fiasco and all.


End file.
